


Beguile is Warranted

by HomoKarkatx



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-05-28 05:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6316690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomoKarkatx/pseuds/HomoKarkatx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of Ludoffee one-shots that take place between very crucial moments of the Season 1 Toffee Arc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't exactly my first fanfic, but it's my first in about 4 years so I encourage criticism for my writing. This will have 7 chapters and I will update this as soon as I can. I became a sucker for this ship so. 
> 
> What you're reading right here is a short introduction.
> 
> Thank you and enjoy~

        It's been a while since Toffee had been recruited. Obviously, the wand hasn't been retrieved but his proclaimed purpose was to help fix that. The new studious individual just happened to be sitting at Ludo's office at this very moment.  
  
        It's late, all of the other monsters have already gone to sleep(or at least should be given their curfew) and Ludo was alone with Toffee discussing important matters; plans on how to capture the wand of course. To Ludo it's that way at least, he's blind to see the big picture, shadowed by the vivid light that is deceit. Toffee definitely has other plans that are yet to come to fruition, the small Kappa is a chess pawn at best.

        There's a small table in the middle of the room full of pieces on a map, each labeled with who they represent. Ludo insisted that he and Toffee would plan for their next attack that will be initiated as soon as the morning, typical for someone so incompetent.  
  
        "...Now that we know Star and Karate Boy visited The Plains of Time and managed to get Father Time off the wheel, we can use our monsters to push him off." Ludo began. "With me freezing time, I can go to Earth find Star, get the wand and--"  
  
Toffee sighed in disbelief, interrupting his proposal. Clearly, there was a lot of faults in that plan.  
  
        "Freezing Time doesn't guarantee such result no matter what the Princess may have brought you to believe. If supposedly Father Time has trouble living up to his duty after getting off the wheel and decides to wander around his surroundings then that is another hassle you'll have to deal with. There's a chance you'll be frozen too again along with everyone else before you even get to the wand, she was lucky enough to have it to begin with in order to fix it. Why would you try and obtain the values of the universe by destroying it and yourself?" Toffee objected.  
  
"...That is a good question." Ludo replied, scratching his scalp.  
  
        "I suggest coming up with something more reasonable." Toffee firmly responded, knowing full well that after about an hour and a half of discussion, Ludo was definitely out of ideas which in this case was an advantage.

       The inadequate villain scowled quietly in frustration then turned to Toffee for suggestions. He was absolutely desperate and will take almost anything that at least seems brilliant.

"Please tell me you have an idea, I came up with every possible plan and you can't seem to agree with me, why don't you come up with something?"  
  
"I will." Toffee responded to his plea.  
  
        "If you want it as soon as tomorrow, then after school when the Princess arrives home to the Diaz family with her Karate Guard we'll have three monsters hiding near the staircase to her balcony since we know she usually heads there first. When she leaves, they'll emerge while she turns around to find another set on said balcony by having them climb up it. She'll be surrounded and occupied when she is actually on the balcony with her wand you'll get on the bat you travel on and swiftly snatch the wand from her hands." Toffee proposed. There was a flaw he had in mind while proposing that plan and that was good because it was crucial for his vendetta to be successful.

"...It's perfect!" Ludo squealed  
  
       "Everything will finally fall into place and I honestly can't thank you enough Toffee, you're my hero!" Ludo said in a hyperventilating manner while running up to hug the Lizard Man's leg as he was much taller in comparison.

        Toffee looked down raising a brow, as it did seem slightly weird. After a moment of stillness and silence, the tiny Kappa looked up to see his companion's expression then quickly refrained from holding his calf. He lightly blushed from what he did and started stuttering,  
  
"I-I Uhhhh.... apologize if I made you feel all uncomfortable here I was just caught up in the moment and--"  
  
"Don't worry about it." Toffee interrupted, trying to break the unease of the milieu. 

       "So are we done for the day? I should be heading out soon to prepare for tomorrow." He asked as Ludo was out of it, not paying attention to anything until he asked.

       "Oh! Uh yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Toffee! It was nice seeing you." Ludo said as he started to leave that part of the castle. "...Toffee?" He started turning his head noticing his guest already left.

       Then he saw a note left on his desk, he walked over to get it. Ludo looked at it as it reads. "Sweet Dreams ~Toffee". He left the office with the note and couldn't help but smile, that man was definitely something extraordinary.


	2. A New Day

        When morning came on this gloomy domain, Ludo woke up from his bed and proceeded to his usual morning routine. Sure, he was yet to be agitated with his army of monsters at any second for whatever reason but he was still...happy. After that, he approached downstairs to the dungeon main-room to get everything started, expecting everyone to align in order for attendance.

       As usual, this doesn't exactly happen and today wasn't any different. They were scattered all over the place causing turmoil. Ludo, barely even able to tolerate a minute of it interrupts the ongoing mayhem and yells,

      "We have a plan taking place in only a few hours and Toffee is going arrive any second so I suggest you all get your act together and be quiet or you're all going to be stuck down here for 2 weeks without any privileges whatsoever"

       Everyone hurried in role-call at his command, so much for being as happy as he was. Although, that was about to change because he heard knocking from the main door which means;  
  
Toffee is here.  
  
       Ludo immediately rushed from downstairs to the door. Boo Fly was behind him trying to tell him, "Sir, your hat is crooked to the side." he told his master in his normal nasally tone.  
  
       Ludo stopped and looked up and did notice that and adjusted it quickly. "Thank you" he replied. Ludo continued to make his way and the Fly Monster kept rambling while flying behind him.

"You seem to be acting weird, you're like mad yet not... so mad." he said  
  
       "Is Toffee going to visit us forever? Do you already know what's going on today? When's the wedding?" he asked, resulting in Ludo going back to being irritated. He turns to the beastly insect and snaps,

       "One more question like that and you're the first to lose your milkshake privileges" he growled through his teeth, as the monster flew back to the dungeon.  
The Kappa finally reached the door. Taking a deep breath, he opens it. He sees the professional reptilian man standing before him, who was waiting for a while.

"I'm certain you haven't forgotten about today, sir?"  
  
        "No of course not!" The small leader replied, becoming somewhat defensive. Toffee already started walking inside and headed downstairs as Ludo said that. Ludo followed him while trying to get his own anger under control. They both eventually reach the room to initiate the plans for their invasion.  
  
       Toffee composedly stood before the soldiers and spoke, "It's my pleasure to introduce our tactics for today, which we're certainly confident about this time." He began. "We're going to need at least six soldiers to join this operation. Whoever wishes to help raise your hand."

        What appeared to be 7 soldiers in the room raised their hands, or whatever was at the end of their arms. Toffee stood there to make his decision.  
"You..., You, You, definitely you, you, and you." He pointed at Bearicorn, Man-Arm, Big Chicken, Fly Monster, Beard-Deer, and Three-Eyed-Potato-Baby. Literally everyone in the room except Buff Frog who frowned from being left out.  
  
"Any Questions?" Toffee asked.  
  
       Buff Frog raised his hand. Toffee rolled his eyes but still wanted to answer the question to get him out of the way. Out of the way from this duty because it seemed all Buff Frog wanted to do with him was object whatever he was doing. He probably said stuff about him behind his back as well, things considerably petty and/or demeaning yet not wrong. 

 "What is it you need?"  
  
       "I know you only wanted six people, but why did you pick everyone else but me? What am I supposed to do?" The large amphibian asked, implying slight suspicion with his tone.  
  
       "Oh, um you can keep things in order in the castle, with duties or something. We're good with the amount we have here and think they're the best fit for the task." Toffee answered, half-willingly. Buff Frog subtly glared at him for that condescending response.

       Ludo walked forward to speak on his behalf, "As for the rest of you, we'll meet you in the main castle room in 15 minutes. You guys aren't going to let me down this time right? This is after all one of the best plans to date with a very specific plan and everything." Ludo questioned, with the intent to obligate them to answer yes.  
  
"Yes, sir." They said in unison.  
  
"Good, we'll see you then. You're all dismissed." Ludo concluded as they started to part. He then turned to Toffee and asked, concerned.  
  
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"  
"I'm a _professional_ , I've worked with many other people like you and I know what I'm doing. My calculations are in order and even if this doesn't work, we're making a decent amount of progress, trust me. " Toffee said to re-assure the Kappa to align to the plans at work.

"I trust you." He responded, feeling comforted and confident. 


	3. Trust Exercises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize for the lack of updating that I promised earlier this year when I started this fanfic. I sort of lost inspiration to keep going for a while, as well as got caught up with other things (graduating high school, family visiting for the summer, mental and physical health issues, overall getting ready for college). Though I'm sure that at least I won't be too inconsistent with these updates now that I picked myself up to do this again (especially with season 2... which has been cool so far, saying this in the shortest way possible without spoilers) 
> 
> Hope you like this chapter and give feedback if you want/need to!

        Hours later, Star Butterfly finally arrived home with Marco after a long day of school. With apparently... additional stops.

"Star, I know you love girl scout cookies but you can you please not buy 8 boxes next time?"  
  
        "But they're using the money to help save the homeless puppies, think about the puppies Marco!" The Princess insisted, of course giving Earth culture the benefit of the doubt as usual, almost like someone seeing the world through rose colored lenses.   
  
       "I hate to break it to you but sometimes companies mainly say that to encourage people to buy them, each box costed 5 dollars. We had 40 when we left and now we don't." Marco stated. He wanted to see Star happy and excited but he also had to be reasonable here.  
  
       "I can do the Math! Besides how can you go wrong with all of these different kinds of cookies?" Star responded, seeing the upside of the purchases.  
"Hm, I guess you have a point there, but that was my month's worth of allowance Star!" Marco said.  
  
"Okay, I won't do that again." the interdimensional foreigner sighed, acknowledging her mistake.  
  
"I'm going to put everything in my room, be right back!" said Star, making her way upstairs.

\--  
        As she made her way up 3 monsters, consisting of The Fly Monster, Bearicorn and Big Chicken were hiding in the hallway, and not very well either. But that didn't matter, she didn't notice. As she was making her way up to her room, they followed behind her quietly which was hard given their size and well-- they're monsters.  
  
       Meanwhile, outside in the backyard Three-Eyed-Potato-Baby, Man Arm, and Beard-Deer started climbing up the balcony. Ludo and Toffee were hiding behind a Tree, with a pet Bat falling asleep on the ground.  
  
"I'll give you the signal to wake him up." Toffee notified.  
  
"But what if it's too late and the whole plan is ruined?" Ludo asked, worried.  
  
"The whole point of giving a signal is to prevent such fault. As long as you follow through anyway." Toffee stated, the former sentence said under his breath. Ludo nodded.  
  
        He hoped Toffee won't let him down. No matter how much faith is put into this whole thing there is a chance something could go wrong... as usual. Though in this case a big part was up to Ludo. Whether or not a manipulator was under wraps the fate was up to him. Though it's not like he has _entire_ control of it as his underhand evil coordinator knew exactly what was going to happen. He made the plans here. The coordinator's client was ambitious and motivated, but not primarily held up to his wits. That was convenient in Toffee's case, it made the pieces fall accordingly.  
  
\--  
  
       Star entered her room and set her backpack down. She was then looking for her hairbrush, since her hair did tend to get really messed up easily given how long it is. After looking throughout her room she can't seem to find it.  
  
       "Maybe I'll ask Marco if he's seen it." Star said to herself as she was about to head out. She opened the door and three monsters emerged, growling to emphasize the threat.  
  
        She turned to the balcony to head out to the backyard to at least have the battle not occur in a place where everything could be destroyed--especially her mirror. But of course, another set of three popped out, Leaving her surrounded. She had no other choice but to fight. Grabbing her wand, Star took charge to attack the crowd of creatures, blasting narwhals left and right to push them away.  
  
        As the quarrel ensued Ludo and Toffee were standing there speculating. Not much banter or anything to occur between them, since they had to be extra focused on the conflict. Surely this isn't the first time this happened but it felt a little unsettling, at least to Ludo. Though why would he feel that way? His mutual was doing his job, there wasn't much more that needed to be added to it, right?  
  
Right?  
  
Not necessarily.  
  
So what did he do? Try and add commentary to make it less awkward. There wasn't anything exactly wrong with that, but of all times?

  
         "How is she not dead?" Ludo asked, glancing at Star as she was taking hits and consistently fighting back. Toffee didn't say anything, he didn't have much to say. It was just Ludo being Ludo. Certainly no one has gotten the basic idea that fighting monsters was her hobby for the longest time. By that obviously everyone has except Ludo. Generally though, Toffee doesn't like to engage in too much interaction especially at times where plans were thrown into place and everything has to keep a close eye in order for to remotely work.

\--  
  
        During the fight, as Star was keeping herself together to single-handedly defeat the monsters, the wand was smacked off of her hand. She slowly backs away to get to it, as it landed on her balcony. She reaches her hand out behind to grab the wand without much looking when she got to the point where she couldn't take another step back.

        "You may have thought I would have lost it when you snatched it off, but jokes on you! I still have my wand!" Star declared, though what was in front of her... wasn't her most valued possession. It was her hairbrush. Everyone awkwardly stood silent.  
  
        "Oooooh, there it is. I don't remember it seeing it over here, or even bringing it out here." the princess said to herself. She set her hairbrush down to get her wand but instead she continued onward to cease the attack. Ludo was chuckling at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Relocating her hairbrush was a part of the plan and it's _priceless._  
  
        "I can't believe she literally just grabbed it like that." he said trying to hold in some of his laughter. "How she didn't even notice right away was just..." the petite monster continued, beginning to laugh to himself. Still lack of any response from Toffee. He did chuckle a tiny bit but limited it to only that. It wasn't aggravating or anything but Ludo did feel kinda bad for adding more and more whilst getting little in return though he doesn't stop there.

         "Is it time yet?" Ludo asked looking up to the savvy mastermind who is gesturing back after all of the miscommunication. It could only mean that it's time.  
"You know, I wouldn't want to assume here but are you saying y--" Ludo questioned but was pushed forward by Toffee to get the point across and fell onto the bat mid-sentence, waking it up.   
  
           The bat bolted into the air like a plane in an airshow. He is spiraling through the air with a significant amount of speed. No one has bothered to notice, they were too dedicated to taking the wand. While struggling to pilot his chiroptera he yanked on it's ears, being fed up. It descended and slowly began to rise again and thankfully at the right timing.   
  
           They were in front of the balcony while also being in mid-air, making way towards Star. Ludo reached out one arm above his head to prepare himself for when he grabs the wand, the thing he's been setting out to capture for the longest time and is already feeling a sense of victory. A victory that essentially defined him and his happiness. At long last, he grabbed something and from the grasp it felt like a wand. On the contrary, his pet is about to pass out and was beginning to collapse straight into the tree. Ludo fell from the tree around the branches that tried to hold him back.

           "I got it! I can't believe I actually caught it!" Ludo looked at the item when he attracted stares from the hectic crowd, it was sure shiny he was mistaken. He had Star's hairbrush.  
  
           "B-But I could have sworn..." Ludo mumbled. He also noticed that he's still not touching the ground. Toffee was holding him, like they were just wedded. Ludo looked up to glance at the helpmate. He couldn't help but look at his cold greyscale skin and his hazel eyes that were visually stunning even in the blinding sunlight,  which brought out his glimmering inky waves of hair. The admired assistant then turns to face the admirer, who's been looking amazed at his mere existence for a while.  
  
"You okay?" Toffee asked, raising a brow.  
  
"Yeah"  
  
" _Give me back my hairbrush, Ludo_." The request came from a distance, and the tiny villain was dropped. He walked away from the tree in Star's backyard and got on his bat who wasn't that affected by the fall, it flew slowly towards Star Butterfly.  
  
" _Here_."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
          At that moment they were awkwardly staring at each other and Star casually blasted him away for his attempt to get her wand yet again. The weak leader fell into the arms of his coordinator _yet again_ , at that point he was about to faint from the inflicted magic. The monsters were blasted away altogether too, which didn't differentiate from the usual either.   
  
          Toffee was the only person who wasn't directly affected by this trip so he gathered the monsters together and declared,  
"Good work, men. He'll be fine." They all exit Earth through the portal. The Lizard Man was still holding Ludo unconscious which isn't something he would acknowledgedly consider doing, but what else could he do?

\--  
        Marco entered the room which was mostly damaged. "Star, I heard a lot upstairs and I came to see if any monsters came to... and they did." He said while beginning to notice the mess.  
  
"What took so long? They're gone."  
  
"One of them tied me up... and I found 800 dollars."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Beats me."  
  
"Hey Marco, how many boxes of cookies can you buy with 800 dollars?"  
  
"160-- Star, we are not buying anymore."  
  
"Well... I didn't say that I wanted to it was just a thought." Star tried to cover up.


	4. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Yes, well, you're not the first monster to fall victim to their magic."
> 
> *flops* I got this done
> 
> This is loosely based on the "Toffee used to have close connections with the royal family" theory and yeah... alot of emotion in this one. Hope you enjoy and please provide feedback!

       Ludo was laying on a long chaise with ice wrapped in cloth applied to his head, still unconscious. He's been laying there that way for (up to that moment), an hour. Toffee had been skimming through a bookshelf in that room, for books that had pieces of information that might be useful.  
  
       The room itself was sort of an extension of the office Ludo has (with a door between the rooms) but modeled like it were a den for someone of high-class or maybe even royalty. There were mostly fine chairs, a bookshelf that took up a wall, and a long coffee table made of marble. Toffee did appreciate the enriching, simplistic yet productive environment it unfolds, for what it is. To say that his client would agree on that would be expecting too much.  
  
       Reasonably the saurian would have placed the senseless Ludo on a place like the bed in his room which was on the top floor, but he forbid anyone to go in there and he wouldn't want to be a threat of his employer's privacy.  
  
When deceiving anyone you have to be on their good side as much as needed for your ploy to take effect, it runs on it. But enough searching and speculating, Ludo needs to actually be checked on, it's been a while.  
  
        Toffee placed a book he had been reading through back onto the shelf and made his away across the room to check up on him. Magic, didn't do too much damage at least with the spell Star casted, it was one of her weaker spells compared to others that could wipe out entire populations and/or other forms of mass. Other than the literal damage, damage caused by magic was also due to it's societal influence and dominance but that's an entirely different subject.  
  
       The mysterious reptilian stood beside his associate (if he could even call him that) whom in which seemed pale, and practically lifeless-- you could only really notice he was breathing if you stared long enough.  
Like anticipated though, he wakes up slowly and has a very blurred sense of things.  
  
"...Hello Toffee..." Ludo said feeling flimsy and having little perception, he could barely keep his own head lifted. He rested it on the palm of one of his hands to help keep balance almost like it were as heavy as a bowling ball. Widening his eyes a little more than just a mild squint he begins talking.  
  
"Did we get it?"  
  
"No. In fact, you she blasted you directly towards your face."  
  
"Oh... Also, can you do me a quick favor and lift your fingers so I can test my sight."  
  
       Of all the things he could have requested it had to be that. But it's not like he would really catch on that something was more or less... missing so he lifted the hand with the severed digit. Even if Ludo did notice (which he might have by now) he probably wouldn't care too much to comment on it or get invested. It's not like it was any of his business.  
  
"You're holding... 3 right?"  
  
"Yes, are you done now?"  
  
"Thanks Toffee..."  
  
        At least that's over with, for now. Worst case scenario he could straight up lie or just be subtly evasive, that's all he really can do and either way it's not like there would be too much of a difference. Ludo is way too latched onto the idea of Toffee. He seemed to be his most valued house-guest (to say that he's had quite a few) possibly for that reason. Another explanation was that he actually did appreciate him as a being, but would that be sort of pushing it? Who knows.  
  
\--  
  
       "She is the worst! Why is it that she just does whatever she wants?" Ludo complained, trying hard not to have the rant turn into flat out yelling. Well, someone had definitely been feeling better, half an hour after waking up and he was pacing around the room.  
  
"She's the princess and she has a wand, need to say more?" Toffee answered while sitting on one of the nice chairs and reading the book he had earlier.  
  
"It's just that even during the biggest inconvenience she always has something unrelated  to either that helps her. Like... Karate Boy!" Ludo argued.  
  
"He wasn't there this time, we made sure of that."  
  
"I know, it was just an example. Even without that, it's like she wins effortlessly. Whereas I try everything..."  
  
"Well I certainly have to hand it to you." he responded with mild disinterest and a decent amount of sarcasm. He set the book down on his lap and was slowly clapping to emphasize the tone.  
  
        "Ugh, I get what you're trying to say. I'm missing something more and there's something I'm doing wrong. It's like there's some sort of secret..." the kappa began contemplating.

        Star at first glance is someone you wouldn't pick battles with, but if you put the wand in the picture you would want to. Lots of people are actively trying to and Ludo is the one she always happens to deal with. Did she even have secrets on a situational level? Everything seemed too natural with her and logically so. Like his partner said, she is a princess and she has a wand which does explain a lot. At the same time though feels much more like there's just luck or some force keeping things in tact through it all. The question is... what could break it?  
  
"You know, I would be more concerned about finding out ourselves." The lawyer-like figure suggested. Ludo stopped pacing and turned to him.  
  
"But Buff Frog already does that for us."  
  
"No, I mean actually get involved. We seem to just get a bird's perspective on the outside looking in. If we plan to succeed we have to know her personally."  
  
"...and how do you expect us to do that?"  
  
"Simple, we use surveillance."  
  
"Like camera surveillance?"  
  
"Precisely."  
  
"I see... but wouldn't that be unfair?"  
  
"He's hired to do what he needs to do. There does seem to be more that he has to do other than surveillance from what I've noticed being here."  
  
        Ludo didn't pay much attention to the last thing Toffee said, despite it being criticizing. He was beginning to drift into his own thoughts. Just the topic of secrets made him think extensively about Toffee. Predominately how he's so much of an interesting enigma-- he's there but also not there. He's done so much to help with the cause, he managed to still stick around without much reluctance or obligation (other than the obvious that this is literally his job), and he has technically well... saved Ludo's life. Also how left nice reminder notes at the end of some days, which felt endearing.  
  
        However he is also outwardly distant. If you were to bring his notes up in conversation he would likely brush it off as weird or avoid it altogether. Communicating with him casually is mostly hard as demonstrated when they were recently battling Star. There's also the factor that shouldn't there be a boundary between professional and personal by default and not really combine the two together? It's not like he had to know the expert... but he was like a muse and an unexpected silver lining. He just had to know to fill the gap of wonder that was slowly consuming his mind.  
  
        Then he remembered; Toffee's missing finger. The small villain began studying it. Why is it missing?  What kind of courageous act resulted in that? What was strong enough to cut it off entirely? If he is a lizard, why hasn't it regenerated? Could it have been more recent or was it from an event ages ago that shakes him to this very day?  
  
"Are you listening, Ludo?" The companion couldn't help but notice his leader was staring off into space like he is still out of it. The leader fell off of cloud nine to answer.  
  
" ...Yes I am."  
  
"Then what did I just say?" he turned directly at him to make sure he wasn't lying.  
  
"...You said that... um... you would-- you said that it's fine and your idea won't interfere with Buff Frog, right?" Ludo tried to think of something that would seem normal or not out of place in the lecture.  
  
       Toffee rolled his eyes, that was a fragment of what he was trying to tell him but he was missing a lot. But since Ludo has had a rough day he decided to let him off easy and tried to take it little by little because that'll probably get the point across easier, with this attention span you'd be wasting your time just explaining everything again.  
The reptilian closed his book and was solemnly pinching his forehead due to his new task. He deeply breathes inward and out and asks  
  
"Sit here." he requested, he gestured towards the chaise. The incompetent commander walked towards it and sat down, now they're face-to-face.  
"Do you believe that what you're doing here is beneficial for every party here?"  
  
Ludo thought for a moment, what did he mean by that?  
  
"Why are you asking?"  
  
"Just answer." So much for clarifying, all he can do is be honest now.  
  
"...Maybe?" he answered with a really unsure expression on his face, still having no idea.  
  
"At least it's a better answer than what I awaited to hear, some people aren't remotely close to being this altruistic."  
  
"I still don't know what you're talking about." To be fair, Toffee was being almost entirely vague and on purpose too.  
  
"Do you know what tomorrow is?"  
  
"The 37th of Grovnauk?"  
  
"Which is..."  
  
"Mewnipendence Day?"  
  
Toffee sighed in distaste for the holiday, "Correct."  
  
         He's aware that Ludo is alien to the values that day holds. Safe to say that he's been sheltered a good deal of his life that even if he was entirely familiar from a narrative he doesn't personally know the struggle of surviving through genocide unlike a handful of Mewni's monsters (some which were his own) who have continuously fought and suffered just to have simple necessities for living.  
  
"It's nice that you've pointed that out but what does it have to do with right now?"  
  
"Because I've planned on creating a surveillance device that resembles the all-seeing-eye. They have been used since the Mewmans claimed ownership of our land. Tomorrow they're going to be around Mewni all day, as part of tradition. One hasn't been sent to Star so we're going to do that ourselves."  
  
          "That's a great idea..." Ludo replied. Sounding uninterested for once. Not because it was about Mewnipendence Day but because his need to get to know Toffee really started to bother him to the point where he got lost in his missing finger once more.  
  
_"          What does it mean?"_ He thought while pondering it. It's not always a good idea to ask personal questions like that but... he couldn't take it anymore, it got so bad.  
  
"Hey, Toffee not to be rude or anything but...what happened to your finger?" Ludo abruptly asked. There it is, the one thing he hoped he wouldn't be asked. Thankfully there was Plan B.  
  
"Ludo you have something on your face."  
  
           As he was told that the imbecile looked in a mirror that is in the room. Staring closely at his reflection he saw that a hair was growing. Freaking out right away he ran from the room quickly. The lawyer is relieved that he is easily distracted. The kappa came back with a slightly visible scar on his face where the hair was and was breathing in and out to calm himself down.  
  
"What happened?" Toffee asked to turn the discussion around. Ludo definately didn't want to immediately answer, guess now he knows how somebody else feels but he surrendered anyway with a sigh.  
  
"Fine, I really hate hair. It bothers me and any tiny amount on my body weirds me out, okay? I'm leaving it at that." he answered with a bit of attitude.  
  
"...That's fine." Toffee was personally confused and didn't know how to react other than a display of acceptance.  
  
"You think so?"  
  
"Sure, it's just... something that bothers you."  
  
             At least Ludo knew he had someone to rely on for sure now, or just someone to just spill convenient information to, whichever sounds better. From his perspective though, from how well they got on in the beginning it seems like he would be the type to be this open, maybe.  
  
"Are you okay with talking about the finger though?" Ludo asked quietly as he was making his way back to the seat.  
  
"Would you be okay with me asking you to talk more about your fear of hair?" Sadly, Toffee had a very valid point. Morally what his client is doing is hypocritical and this is on a more touchy subject.  
  
"No... but the reason I'm asking is... you seem interesting. You're interesting, Toffee."  
  
" _My point still stands._ "  
  
"I know, and you don't have to say anything. I just wanted to know if it affects you as my much as my problems affect me."  
  
            The meaning of the question isn't really set in stone. Ludo definitely isn't the best of handling a vast majority of his problems. Albeit the idea behind it was transparent. He had a lot going on as well and in that regard they were very much alike. It's only fair to be discreet about his secret just like his partner--but not so opaque in his wording.  
  
"I'm going to put it this way and I'm only going to say this once." he began.  
  
_"I've been through many of my own battles. The kind that you would go through for the sake of passion and for your own life. I dealt with someone despicable... and my finger was the cost."_  
  
             Ludo's eyes grew big and started gleaming as if he were about to cry, knowing how self-centered he is this says a lot. He had nothing to say, he still had no idea what in the world he was talking about but part of him related to his loss anyway.  
  
"I'm sorry." he mumbled.  
  
           Toffee just stared at him, once again having no way to react other than relief internally since he won't have to do anything like this again. Ludo placed his hand on top of Toffee's hand with the missing finger, slowly grabbed it from underneath, and lifted it above the marble table, where the hands levitated in light grasp.  
  
          "All of this is crazy, but I know it hurts. To think they would do this to you." Ludo said beginning to caress Toffee's palm with his thumb, which wasn't too new since he something similar with his upper arm on the first day.   
  
           Toffee just kept staring the same way, only showing more... empathy in his expression. He did say that he was a victim of Mewni's power, so it was safe to assume they had something to do with the fact it severed. Would Ludo ever actually understand if anyone included the major details? He most likely won't but as they say;  
  
people do the strangest things when they're attracted to someone. 


	5. Tranquility Meets Fidelity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "[West Mewnian Swamp Water] or, do you drink from the bottle?"  
> "On days like this..."  
> "Tell me about it"  
> \--  
> Heyheyhey I haven't disappeared!! School has been slowly destroying me rip. This chapter feels like sin (and it probably is but then again, this pairing generally is sin) so bear with me.

**( Trigger Warning: for big themes of alcoholism, and very slight nsfw (which I won't continue with, heaven forbid) for one joke. If you're repulsed by any of these things and/or it deeply triggers you, I suggest you click away, chapter 6 is on the way soon. Thank you for your patience. )**  
  
        It'd been 3 hours since the expulsion of Buff Frog. Was Ludo directly affected by it? No. If anything it was guilt from current circumstances that will fade out with time (at least that's how everything felt). He appeared neutral in his mannerisms and posture, he is supposed to be the bigger person of the guild. Ludo was walking through the first hallway upstairs to get to the office, Toffee was waiting for him. As Ludo was making his way there, he was interrupted by Bearicorn and Boo Fly.  
  
        "Hey Boss! Since Buff Frog is gone-- I mean, do you think I should get that promotion for more duties since he's no longer with us and all and well, someone has to." Bearicorn requested, his wording shifted from enthusiastic to sympathetic to of course, get on his employer's good side and not consequently get kicked out too. He wanted that promotion for months, as he for the most part enjoyed working for Ludo, who in which rolled his eyes and sighed,  
  
         "Might as well, it would certainly get that off my back." he actually planned on appointing him as first-in-line of second-in-command in the place of Buff Frog but didn't think he would go through with it before today because he didn't think it would happen anytime soon.  
  
         "Thank you so much sir!" Bearicorn screeched in excitement began jumping for joy. He pecked his boss's forehead in thankfulness and started walking away happily.  
  
"...You're welcome. Also I know you're trying to be nice, but don't do that to my face again." Ludo said in a slightly loud voice while Bearicorn exits to make sure he heard him.  
  
"What do you want?" Ludo turned to Boo Fly who also was asking for something.

"I was wondering if you can give this to Toffee. It's a thank you letter from all of us! We signed it and everything, it was my idea." Boo Fly said with an envelope in hand.   
  
"But he's not going anywhere." Ludo replied.  
  
"I know, we just wanted to let him know we like what he's been doing and we enjoy his company, he's a really cool guy and all."  
  
           "I will under one condition." Ludo began, knowing that Boo Fly may be up to something, "That you don't get up in my business because we all know you like to do that around here, you can't do that just because you can fly unlike all of us."  
  
"Now when was the last time I did that?" Boo Fly asked, folding his arms.  
  
Ludo sighed in irritation and brought up, "The one time I was singing Love Sentence while getting ready in the morning and you recorded it."  
  
           "That was one time and we all knew you secretly like listening to them anyway. Just like we can pretty much tell you like Toff--"Before Boo Fly could finish his sentence, Ludo took the envelope, gave him a sarcastic smile.  
  
"I'll give this to him, don't worry. Just like I said if you want him to receive this you best be staying away from other peoples business. For instance, your job. It's your business isn't it?" Ludo said grimly.  
  
"Actually it's technically yours I work for you and you run the whole thing so."  
  
"But you won't be if you put yourself in these situations... you have that to worry about so I suggest you stick with it, okay?"  
  
         The levitating insect looked sheepish from those words and nodded. Ludo turned away and continued walking, just ever so grateful Toffee is patient about this.  
  
"Goodnight, Sir." Boo Fly said to break the awkwardness the entire conversation held.  
  
\--  
  
        Things were so... for lack of a better term... bittersweet in this metaphorical household. Anything involving it felt that way now. But it shouldn't hurt, in the end Buff Frog did deserve it. He went out of his way to ruin everything, what place does he have here? It did hurt to process the fact he was expelled from the premises at first but honestly it had to be done for better or worse. That mindset was practically on loop in Ludo's mind, knowing that letting emotions get the best of him is obstructive. Intellect is clearly more important. His right hand man taught him that, and he was practically synonymous to a conscience; what he says goes.  
  
        Though things have run out of steam, sitting through a re-enactment of the planet's most questionable holiday and sending someone out to get the key weapon defining said day didn't bring satisfactory results, just ingrateful rebellion. Now that something this... unnerving has happened. The only question Ludo had among all of this is;  
  
"What do we do now?"  
  
        The kappa was in his office, sitting on his throne accompanied by a desk. His eyes were glued to the window to his left. The room was mostly dim, it's gotten close to midnight and all of the candles had gone out. Except a few, one next to Ludo on his desk and three towards the back on the room placed on top of shelves, those in which had just been lit.   
  
Toffee pulled up a chair and sat in front of him with one leg across the other and his hands held together as he sat down and answered, "The question you're probably looking for is, "What can we do now?" well, anything. No one can get in our way anymore, isn't that what you want?"  
  
"Don't you see that I'm not in the mood for this right now?" Ludo snapped in resistance, which you would think is a first for him. In most cases it's a far-fetched concept to even consider saying no to something he was this obsessed over, but the times called for it.  
  
"Then why did you ask?"  
  
"I was hoping you would at least figure that maybe, this is unsettling."  
  
"And you think I haven't?"  
  
"Why aren't you taking any of this seriously? This isn't just about me you know. Everyone else here is affected too." Ludo raised his voice as his self control slowly began to slip.  
  
          "All I'm saying is we should make an effort to move on, the first step is continuing things without him. In the end he doesn't need our mourning, he knew better. " To be somewhat fair, Toffee's doing what he's enlisted to as an efficiency worker, not a therapist or in this case-- a close mutual. That being said, as that type of outsider his suggestion is of best interest. Ludo had a hard time taking this though,  
  
        "Try to at least respect that we need to take a moment." Ludo was clutching his palm onto the lever that adjusts his chair and impulsively started pushing it forward, making it rise just like his anger.

          " _All you've been doing is pushing the matter aside when obviously it's kind of a big deal. I know I hired you to do one thing but can you please, let me slow things down for one second?_ " He then stopped and noticed how high up he is, and looked down at Toffee who was just sitting there, crossing his arms and staring at him. At the sight of that, Ludo then descended the pillows embedded to his chair.  
  
"...You know what, you're right. Why don't we move on, but I need to do one thing first." Ludo returned.  
  
"What is that?"  
  
"You don't happen to have Swamp Water on you do you?"  
  
"Are you seriously thinking that getting wasted is the best way to handle this right now?" Toffee argued.  
  
"I wouldn't say get wasted, this is as a means of Buff Frog being gone. That alone is to celebrate, right?"  
  
"I _guess_ , but I'm skeptical. Can't you just talk about how you're not dealing with things well right now and have us go from there?" Toffee persisted.  
  
           He already wasn't keen on spending time with Ludo but possibly seeing him wasted is a whole other sight he wouldn't want to end up witnessing. He has drank with him before, but he's emotionally off-balance in contrast to before, where he was uplifted. He's going to want to over-indulge at some point of all of this and didn't want to feel responsible for what happens. With no additional word of advice, Ludo then said,  
  
"I like how concerned you are, but I thought since things have been so great, so unstoppable, it would be a good time to take it easy. There's more to come soon, until then why don't we just do this."  
  
           Toffee couldn't even argue anymore. If he tried to, like he already kept doing, there may have been indication that something is very off about him-- that was the last thing he would've wanted. He had no other choice than to give in.  
  
"Fine." Toffee scoffed, "I don't have any with me, do you keep some here?" he continued, expressing hints of unenthusiasm.  
  
"There's a bottle in the kitchen downstairs, it's on the top left shelf, the last cupboard you'll see up there." Ludo informed, sounding happy about what will happen, which makes it seem like he lost his mind.  
  
          Toffee left to retrieve it, leaving Ludo alone. He scanned the letter from Boo Fly. Something about it seemed peculiar but he didn't want to open it, that would be against common decency. He placed it in a drawer in his desk anyways, to save for later.  

             A sense of paranoia was starting to creep up, that something confidential might have been in the document so he re-opened the drawer to gently open the envelope. Next thing he knew, his lizard acquaintance returned with the bottle and two shot glasses. The letter was rammed inside the drawer to avoid a strange impression. Toffee set everything down onto the desk and moved the candle on Ludo's desk to a shelf left of it. He returned to the seat and started pouring the swamp water into the glasses. It gave Ludo a reminiscent feeling of his first victory with Toffee, from how the moon shined light to what was happening between them. Ludo lifted his shot-glass and asked,  
  
"Cheers?"  
  
" _Cheers._ " Toffee replied with monotone, and the glasses clicked.  
  
        He was carefully sipping his drink while Ludo went all out, his glass was already empty. He reached for the bottle and was pouring himself another one. Toffee yanked the bottle away in fear and placed it on an empty shelf in the back. He looked over his shoulder to Ludo after placing the thing and saw that he started snorting. Toffee didn't want to be here, things have gotten much worse. Seeing his boss buzzed was disturbing, yet laughable under the circumstance that he's still taking himself so seriously like he always does. Ludo climbed on top the desk and began standing in a very wobbly way, his composure was very tainted. Toffee quickly made it back to the desk to keep Ludo from falling, which he was about to. His hat already fell onto the ground due to the weight it held.  
  
        The lizard lawyer drank responsibly and it was something just about anyone including the buzzed kappa should be more than thankful for. He caught the flimsy bird-like monster in his arms, Ludo gave him a delayed and gross hug. His face was pressed against the jacket, feeling nothing other than a smooth texture from the fabric and warmth. The kappa lifted his head up, facing directly towards Toffee, whom in which looked really tense. Rambles of personal thoughts were pouring out of Ludo's mouth, like a faucet that lost it's handle.  
  
"I'm so happy, I can't feel more alive." he mumbled, with slight slurs in his speech.  
  
"I could tell." Toffee replied, looking transfixed, "And you've had more than enough."  
  
"Nothing is ever enough and nothing can stop me! I'm on top of the world!" Ludo replied, with the same speech pattern. Toffee stepped back a bit, still holding Ludo's forearms to provide breathing space.  
  
"Don't do anything, I'm perfectly fine where I am right now."  
  
"You're definitely not."  
  
"Y-You don't understand. You're here with me and I'm having the time of my life. What could be more special than that?" Ludo snorted and his eyes began to lightly damp.  
  
"Your health and safety." Toffee corrected, in a tone that was so done. Done from all the meddling today offered and the obligated care to top it all off.  
  
          "I don't need to worry when you're right here. The second I laid my eyes on you, I thought "Wow, you're like an angel that fell from heaven" and I was right. You're smart, understanding, and really handsome. Every second has felt like a dream, like every part of my life became better in every single way." Ludo said, with the very little control he had. Toffee sighed in disbelief and replied,  
  
"Ludo, you can't possibly be saying that--" before Toffee finished, Ludo stood up on his toes and unregrettably kissed the lawyer. His lips were pressed against his cold scaley lips, until Ludo lost grip. Toffee felt absolutely

appalled,

mortified,

**disgusted.**

           The _last thing_ he could ever _dream_ of doing is kiss the person who he thought was one of the most pathetic people he's ever met. Someone who makes him cringe internally for everything that good-for-nothing stands for.  
That's when enough was enough. Reaching his breaking point, he tries break the mood by carrying him.  
  
"Toffee, where are we going? Are you taking me upstairs?" Ludo asked flirtatiously.  
  
" _You're disgusting._ I'm tired, I need to go home, and you need to keep yourself well. I'm getting Bearicorn to check up on you."  
  
\--  
  
         Toffee placed Ludo on his king-sized bed in his giant bedroom, and made sure he was laying on his side. Bearicorn was nearby while this happened, looking deeply concerned. A bucket was also placed next to Ludo's bed, in case he vomits. Ludo, still awake looked up with a heavy shift of movement and said,  
  
"Oh, you're leaving. I wanted to know if you felt the same about me--"  
  
"Goodnight, Ludo." Toffee concluded, closing the door with a light slam.  
  
"I love you." Ludo murmured, with exhaustion taking over his senses and started to sleep. Nothing could ever be the same again at that point forward, and things were only starting to go downhill.


	6. Messenger

        Ludo woke up as if he returned from some alternate universe. His eyes began to adjust, the first thing he saw was his long velvet sheet on his bed beneath him, and then the door straight in front of him. To his right, the dark clouds stitched with faint silver beams could be seen through a window. The rest of the room started glowing. He despised sunlight, which in his part of Mewni only appeared in the morning, it was barely much of it either. Confused, he jumps off the bed to open the curtain leading to the balcony. The dead fields appeared the same as before.  
  
        He thought he woke up from some dream he vaguely remembers any of. The last known memory was him peeking at Boo Fly's letter, and undertones of having some exhilarated feeling with Toffee beside him-- vague and weird to the point where it could be interpreted as a dream. He'd be fortunate to remember anything about an affair or the things leading up to that. Though, he'd also be just as lucky to know the basic details in regards to his health. Ludo heard a series of quick knocks on the bedroom door and went to go answer. There stood Bearicorn who was awfully nervous.  
  
"Boss! I'm sorry I didn't stick around last night I got really tired and things got too much for me! Are you doing okay?"  
  
"I'm... fine...?" Ludo went by his own judgement that nothing significant was happening to his body. However, that could mean something involving him happened, it would be the only explanation. He spotted a small reflection of light on the wall, which could've been projected by an object in the room bouncing off light. Turning behind, the kappa saw a metal bucket with bright light on the edges.  
  
"There's a bucket here, care to explain?"  
  
"I was just about to tell you, Toffee brought you in here. You seemed out of it and he didn't say really why or anything. He just had me check up on you in case something happened. From what I can make of it, you were drinking a lot again which... explains the bucket."  
  
        Ludo paused from a flood of anxiety. He now knows that he was drunk last night, he had no idea what happened because of it, and chances are he's done something (or things) that were stupid. Although realizing that if he kept being tense, then it would make things twice as awkward if worst case scenario: He's done something really stupid. It occurred to him that the best thing to do is act calm and collected, like nothing has happened. Having no knowledge on the predicament, he could plot accordingly based on the turn of events. In other words;  
What would Toffee do?  
  
\--  
  
        Ludo was in front of the castle door awaiting Toffee's return. He placed a step stool nearby, which he was sitting on, to check the peephole when someone knocks. Twiddling his thumbs and his eyes shooting around the area surrounding him in boredom, he then heard a knock. Standing on top of the stool, he saw Toffee who appeared the same as usual. Jumping off it and moving it away from the door, Ludo stood on his toes to open the door. Toffee went from neutral to slowly glaring at him upon arrival. Unsure what to exactly make of it, Ludo tried to be welcoming by smiling to be courteous and gently waved.  
  
        Without context, it's sticking to the usual to prevent the worst of the whole dilemma. With context, it was sweeping things under the rug. Both only had one of the two. One thing that overlapped however, was obligation. While doing the work that comes with it makes one bitter, it's the endgame that makes it worthwhile. For Toffee, it's all or nothing no matter how much he hated every second of it.  
  
"Hello, Ludo." he greeted, though more forced and vehement than what he accustomed to. Ludo shouldn't be exactly be blamed for what he did but because he went as far as kissing him, he had to be one way or the other. It was less because of what he did, but more what was behind what he did-- albeit what happened was equally as bad for the outlandish, unwelcome experience. Did he want to have an excuse to kiss him and the only way to do so was to set up a chance to imbibe until he blacks out? No. That wouldn't make sense, knowing how strange people act after that sort of consumption, it could've been the influence.  
  
        Though, impulses take over in the span of that period. If he wanted to do that but couldn't bring himself to, that may have well have been a way to get it over with. Needless to say, Ludo deserved what's coming to him.  
  
Toffee proceeded to walk ahead into the castle, without him. Again, not too unusual but this time it had a statement. Ludo tried catching up with him, hurriedly, with more social silence than the earlier days of Toffee's employment-- keeping at the task at hand, barely any means of intimacy, even the basic means. It hits hard now, where a bond has been established in contrast to then. What could've gone wrong?  
  
Then Toffee turned, looking down on Ludo and asked rhetorically, "Have you heard of personal space?"  
  
        Ludo realized now that he's barely inches away from Toffee's leg, another bad sign. Ludo then moved to the side, away from him, but not enough to call it personal space. Toffee then took said leg and slowly pushed him until he was near the wall in the hallway, "Now, keep that space." he concluded. Why was he suddenly bothered by physical contact? He didn't seem to really care before, or was he just now establishing a ground rule after putting up with it? Whichever it was, this was bad.  
  
\--  
        Walking downstairs to the dungeon, they both walked into something strange. It wasn't the monsters being disorganized, that's still present and normal around here. The monsters were huddled around, as if they're partaking in a ton of gossip. What rumors could be flying about here? Ludo, an occassionally threatening and desensitized leader enjoys listening to Love Sentence? That's old news in Ludo's book. All the commotion happening this soon, after the apparently eventful night means that this is all about what happened between him and Toffee. Ludo, demanding to know what he exactly did, walked towards the crowd and gave them a sarcastic welcome.  
  
"Hi!" Ludo exclaimed. The monsters turned, with the uproar fading to utter silence.  
  
"Hey." Beard-Deer replied and waved, to take one for the team.  
  
"Are you upset at us or anything?" Bearicorn asked.  
  
"No, I just was curious of what is going on here." Ludo partially lied.  
  
"Oh, okay. Also, Congratulations." Man-Arm concluded. What did he mean by 'congratulations'? Ludo then noticed Boo Fly isn't here. He usually started gossip around here, he has countless times. It wasn't routinely though, seeing as he tried to be as secretive about any rumors as possible to avoid the boot.  
  
There have been slips of information passing back to Ludo however. Whenever he discovered Boo Fly has been saying undignified slander, he either; Goes all out in rage, gives him a long lecture, takes some of his privileges away, threatens to fire him, or all of the above. What Ludo was going to do depended on what defamatory thing Boo Fly said this time, if he said anything at all.  
  
"Do any of you know where Boo Fly is?" Ludo asked the monsters sternly, crossing his arms.  
  
        They started chattering, unsure where he could be. While waiting for an answer, Ludo turned behind and realized Toffee was gone. "On second thought, don't bother." Ludo ran upstairs to see where they went, with the assumption that Boo Fly was likely going to embarrass him. Toffee, already having a bad outlook and personal anger towards Ludo, made it worse.  
  
\--  
        "I didn't say anything, they probably figured it out or made it up on their own." Boo Fly told Toffee, they were both in the castle living room, between the castle door and the dungeon entrance.

 "I don't appreciate being reduced to an object for your childish endeavors. As for what happened, that wasn't your business nor was it something I wanted to engage in." The monsters already knew what went down. Because of it, Toffee knew right away it was a huge lie.  
  
"It's too late to clarify." Boo Fly mumbled under his breath, quiet enough so Toffee couldn't hear.  
  
"Tell me, what did you witness while you were spying on us? Other than the obvious."  
  
 "Well... the obvious. You know, you were both hanging out, Ludo kissed you, you two left, I was in an air vent the whole time this happened. I barely paid attention to anything else, it got a little boring after a while. Don't tell Ludo though." Boo Fly explained, with white lies spewing from his mouth. All of which related to how closely invested he was.  
  
       "Okay, then in that case, what did you salvage from what you saw? I can tell you had evidence to back this up, correct?" Toffee glared, with a slightly more menacing tone of voice. He was anything but stupid and Boo Fly was not fooling anybody. The floating insect was shuddering at the relentless suspicion. Metaphorically, he was surrounded by weapons waiting to let his guard down. Which, wasn't even a decision at this point.  
  
"I-I... I took pictures and sent them." Boo Fly stuttered, admitting what he's done and held a tight grip on his compact, hidden behind his back. Toffee's eyes widened from his own sense of humiliation and tried not to withdraw his calm display.  
  
"Before you freak out, I'll show you the pictures I took so you'll know what they got out of this."  
  
"It's not about 'what they got out of it' it's the fact that they know anything about it. You don't have the entire context either and yet you decided to blow everything out of proportion. That's not the kind of disrespect I'd be willing to tolerate, especially in my line of work."  
Toffee insisted

"Okay... so let me get this straight: This was all unintentional?  
  
"Mhm."  
  
"He's the one that started it?"  
  
"That's what brought us here."  
  
"And... you don't feel the same about him?"  
  
"No I don't. Which by the way, make sure he doesn't do anything else to follow through with his feelings. As for everyone else, try to at least slightly convince them there's nothing more between us. I'll do the rest myself."  
  
       Right as they were ending discussion, Ludo reached the main floor. It was too late, they were talking for quite some time. Who knows what was said or went unsaid. The spontaneous exclusion from daily activities spoke for itself, this couldn't be happening too. Fortunately for him, Boo Fly and Toffee were still talking and didn't notice he was there yet, his height was a factor.  
  
"Couldn't you just tell him? You'd be in the wrong for not letting him in on something he literally did."  
  
"He'll figure it out. He may not figure out a lot of things, but he'll definitely figure out that he's done this."  
  
"Figure out what?" Ludo then spoke out from below, within their circle.  
  
"Hey there, Ludo. Boo Fly wanted to have a word with me about the--"  
  
"Letter! He was wondering if you could hand it to him now that he's here."  
  
"How did you know I haven't given the letter to him yet?"  
  
"I asked if he's read it and he said he didn't. Now he's looking forward to see it. Would you mind getting the letter from each of us?"  
  
Ludo squinted dubiously at Boo Fly, he was not particularly buying it... entirely. The letter still needed to be delivered as promised but something felt off as expected. The only way to know was to ask Toffee.  
  
"Is that true?" Ludo turned to Toffee.  
  
"Yes. You don't mind, do you?" If one needed an example of exemplementry lying this was it. Fake answer aside, the tone was at the very least, moderately sincere. Which can raise the question about his recent hostility. He figured this would fend Ludo off for a bit until he can officially unravel his new plan, more than anything else.  
  
He also grew fond of the monsters he's been working with. He already respected and sympathized with their struggles half of which, exist due to Ludo being unreasonably hard on them. It'd be flattering or even refreshing to hear positive feedback from them.  
  
"...Guess I'll go, since you want it." All of this disassociation flowing in from everyone did start to feel personally uncomfortable, but if he could do something as simple as give a due letter, then he could say he's done something right.  
  
\--  
        Ludo opened the drawer in his desk where the letter was, though a little ruffled from shoving it inside last night. He stretched the envelope out a little to make it look less improper. Looking up for a split second, he saw a compact. Not just an ordinary one, it had parts that were dented and chipped off.  
It was Boo Fly's compact.  
  
"Turning yourself in I see?" Ludo said indirectly. He took it and opened the screen, it wasn't asking for a password so he unlocked it easily. Though, to quite a surprise. The first thing he saw was a picture of him kissing Toffee. He couldn't process it, he refused to. It explained everything that needed to be explained.  
  
        His eyes were beginning to water but prevented himself from forming tears. He hasn't seen everything, so he scrolled through some more. The other pictures dipicting the moments beforehand. He quickly closed the compact shut, he preferred going back to being ignorant to this information. After all, ignorance is bliss. It would've been bliss not to know that this was something far from repair. It would've been bliss to keep anticipating something more, like there was substantial progress. But it dissappeared before his eyes.  
  
There's still business to be done, the bare minimum, and that's the more harsh reality. As beyond tempted he was to fire Boo Fly on the spot, he had no real reason too. It was his own fault.  
  
\--  
   
"Do you like it?"  
  
"Thank you." Toffee took the letter Ludo handed to him and slid it inside his jacket. Of course unfolded and read,  
  
Toffee,  
You're a great addition to our team, Hope whatever this takes you to will be a good one!  
  
signed with each of their names.  
  
"Anything else?"  
  
"I appreciate it."  
  
"See, I told you!" Boo Fly shouted in the distance, away partaking a different conversation with his comrades.  
  
"...I meant like you were reading a sentimental thing and did it remind you of anything else that could very well be the same-- (okay, bad example). What I'm trying to say is there's someone here who has thanked you as well. I mean, really. "  
  
"Are we interrupting a moment?" Bearicorn came over to ask, as the distance from these two parties is pretty close if we're talking reclusive. Which was the impression implanted in their minds, thanks to Boo Fly.  
  
"You are now."  
  
"No he isn't, actually." Toffee corrected. Ludo expressed distaste for the fact he openly swerved away from these acknowledged feelings. Not surprising, but felt harsh either way.  
  
"He's right you know." Boo Fly added as he flew towards them. "There's nothing you can do that'll interfere with intimacy because there's none here! Go ahead, say what you want!"  
  
"I was just checking is all."  
  
        As Bearicorn stepped away, Toffee released a quiet groan. All of this investment was inevitable but the way they're approaching it was inconsiderate and degrading. It was the equivalent of someone singing the immature melody about two people sitting in a tree.  
  
He hated thinking about the kissing, oh god the kissing. Once was way more than enough. Was Boo Fly implying that he would've engaged in this with just about anyone therefore having no boundaries? That's even more disgusting.  
  
"Why should we care?" Beard Deer questioned.  
  
"We don't really have to care, it's just something interesting to think about cause of how weird it is-- Though if things get further from here, we probably should care." Bearicorn answered  
  
"Makes sense since you care about pretty much everything." Man-Arm added  
  
"And yet not when Buff Frog was kicked out *ahem*." Beard Deer said under his breath using fake coughs to help mask it.  
  
"I don't!" Bearicorn argued.  
  
"When Ludo killed a cockroach you cried for half an hour." Man-Arm pointed out.

"It looked so helpless! The least we could've done put it outside!" Bearicorn raised the pitch of his voice in defense.  
  
"Hey." Boo Fly returned to the conversation, hoping to make any last minute fixes. It's impossible per se, he left too many receipts. Whatever he had up his sleeve I guess was better than nothing.  
  
"So I see you're talking about my messages."  
  
"And?" asked Beard Deer  
  
"I may have made a mistake with them."  
  
"You think?"  
  
"No, not like that. You know when I attached the caption saying that I was right? Well I was wrong."  
  
"How could you be wrong? It's self explanatory." Bearicorn insisted.  
  
"That's the thing, it isn't." Boo Fly replied. In actuality he was improvising his entire attempt. His words can easily constrict leaving him trapped in his guilt, depending on how well he pulled it off.  
  
"Everything they were doing? It was for warmth."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It was really cold last night and the air conditioning wasn't working."  
  
"It's always kind of cold here. Also isn't Toffee cold blooded?" Man Arm argued  
  
"That's why they were hugging for so long. So their temperatures would adjust."  
  
"Why would they kiss then?" Beard Deer asked  
  
"Their lips were especially cold from what they were drinking. In fact it was so cold that nothing could help, not blankets, no jackets, nothing. Kissing for warmth is also a thing." Boo Fly added  
  
"It's not like they were below freezing. No one would want to kiss Toffee if it were just barely cold anyway."  
  
"Why did you say that as if anyone else were to?" asked Bearicorn  
  
"Boo Fly did say there was no intimacy so I figured maybe people have--" Beard Deer whined.  
  
"What I'm trying to say is they don't have a relationship. There. Ludo likes Toffee, that's why he kissed him but he doesn't feel the same way about Ludo and is bothered by the kiss." Boo Fly raised his voice enough to make himself clear  
  
"Why didn't you just say that?" Man Arm asked being on par with the other tone.  
  
"I panicked okay!?"  
  
"And you thought that we would buy something as dumb as warmth?" Bearicorn pointed out.  
  
"I don't know! It sounded more convincing at the time! Saying the other thing would've seemed like an obvious cop-out."  
  
"Say, how come you haven't asked Toffee for his word anyway if this is what happened?"  
  
"You're right. Why haven't I asked him?" Boo Fly wondered while creeping in some an awkward laugh  
  
"I figured you would need me." Everyone turned to see Toffee standing before them, who was clearly irritated.  
  
"Gentlemen, if you please just take a moment."  
  
Ludo hesitantly turned his head to them, looking depressed and feeling guilty, with a whole range of other negative self-inflicted emotions.  
  
"He was on edge and wanted a distraction. He did this impulsively while under the influence. That's all that happened, the stance on the situation is as stated and won't change. I could understand your concern but it's not part of your responsibility. Out of respect for our leader, we shouldn't keep putting this much pressure on him like what happened here. I don't want a repeat of any of this in the future or I'll consider resigning. End of subject."  
  
\--  
  
        "People always say that at first, and then once you know it they're on the same boat as you." Ludo said to himself, clutching onto a pillow. He periodically gets stuck in denial among all of the stages of grief (if this was even grief). He'd been laying in bed and aimlessly rolling around on it like a frustratingly bored child.  
  
        He listened to the call-out closely and has to have some sort of follow up to it. He didn't want to have to take on that duty for numerous reasons. The main reason be it that he was practically shamed. No one wants to have to face the music right now and it's not something that would quickly blow over either.  
On a more positive note, Ludo still has a wand to catch. That's all he wants and as long as he has it then he wouldn't have anything to worry about. He'll have so much power in his hands that all of this wouldn't be anywhere relevent. Possibly indicating that it's an artificial romance that was conditional and temporary. Personally he has barely an idea if he sees it that way or not. He only sees the now as opposed to tomorrow, a week, a month, or onward on a consistent, realistic scale. He is very vehement on his goals but doesn't keep up with them and can have his mindset disassembled at the snap of fingers. This was no exception either.  
  
        Knocks were heard, and Ludo threw his pillow off from himself on instinct.  
  
"Ludo?" acquired Toffee  
  
"I thought you were still having that private meeting." Ludo answered on the other side of the door  
  
"You knew it wasn't private but sure, let's call it that."  
  
"You said I should probably stay out of it."  
  
"Should _probably_ stay out of it. You didn't have to but, you should've stayed because... _we both know how important it was now do we?_ "  
  
"Now you're just not making any sense-- You know what, I'm coming." Ludo stated while making his way to the door.  
  
"I was listening to it you know."  
  
"Were you? _How does it make an effect on you?_ " Toffee said condescendingly.  
  
Ludo thought for a second to process the question, moreover he preferred not to answer. "Anyway, if it's about any plans I don't have much on my part."  
  
"That's what I came to tell you, I already have it set up."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"We can track down the wand, I have a magic tracker. Magic doesn't exist on earth so we'll be more than able to find her and see where she goes to most, then create a strategy based on that."  
  
"Ah, okay. Sooo we can just get to it like that?"  
  
"That's what I said."  
  
"Well, thank you." Ludo replied with a smile and tried to maintain it to show genuiene gratitude. At that given moment, that's what he felt and wanted him to know. Not that it would fix everything if there was anything to be fixed to begin with, their relationship was fragile and full of scratches.  
  
        They were standing between the two rooms. Ludo would not refrain from that one simple face, the face demanding of a positive response in return. The face that speaks "I really like you" and similar cliches. The messages that have been repeated to the point where they're bothersome and/or stretched away from their original meaning.  
  
Toffee wanted to combat them, in the form of a question, a continuation of the one Ludo ignored. Answers have much more volume than compiled statements, as Boo Fly willingly demonstrated earlier.  
  
"I don't suppose you're expecting anything else are you?" Toffee asked smiling.  
  
"Me? _No_ , what you did was fine."  
  
"I would have guessed, but you seem to always want more." Toffee continued, squatting down towards Ludo's height and placed a quick stroke on his cheek.  
  
"Well I-I mean? I can get that way but we're going at a pace here and uh, that is what makes things work. You're grea-- you're doing great!"  
  
"If you say so." Toffee concluded, dropping the act and began stepping away. Ludo of course, tried to keep up. He had way too many questions about an illusion, or test in this case-- a test to see if he actually cared about what was said.  
  
"I could give you something to do if that's what you want." Ludo said  
  
"I'm good, thank you." Toffee responded, walking faster. They eventually reached the castle door after a short while.  
  
"I just thought we could do something together."  
  
"Maybe some other time, Bye!" Toffee opened the door and left. Ludo stood there like a statue, like all of this just stunned him. So much for a follow up, that he had every capability to use diligently if he didn't let his shallow take on it slip up.  
  
"So how did things go with your boyfriend?" Boo Fly asked sarcastically  
  
"Will you please shut up?" Ludo deadpanned.  
  
"I'm surprised that you were still confident about it."  
  
"Did it occur to you that after telling people insidious things, then messing with other people's issues by telling more insidious things, shutting up may be a very good option?"  
  
"I may have said a lot and should stop but you wanted to drink with him in the first place, you kissed him, you didn't just let this go. Even if I didn't get the word out... the pressure still would've been there."  
  
Ludo sighed and lightly lowered his head, making him look melancholic, "What should I do? Don't think this will let you off the hook."  
  
"Maybe apologize? I feel a lot of this is because you didn't apologize."  
  
        Ludo is to apologizing as ice is to a fire, the idea of those things co-existing together is laughable. Could he maybe do it? He's done it for societal convention, but not for conflicts or when people tell him he's done something wrong. For the most part, he's a narcissist who can't accept criticism. He frets at the idea of being wrong, but it may be worth it just this once. It's a matter of trying. 


	7. House of Cards

**Trigger Warning: Discussion of Child Abuse**

            “I find it funny how you keep asking for my help." said Boo Fly, roaming around the office.  
  
"Don't sell yourself short, you're fit for this right now. Bearicorn said to hug it out which was the stupidest thing I've heard in my life." Ludo assured, figuring between someone with strings of information and someone who second-handedly lived the experience Boo Fly was a much better option.  
  
"...I meant it in an ironic way, this is ironic." Boo Fly corrected.  
  
He was the moderator not necessarily because he could clean the mess but because he got himself into the mess and mixed it all together, someone who got dirty. He didn't mind helping though felt a little used.  
  
Ludo hadn't refracted from apologizing exactly but wanted alternatives to avoid it which he had not thought about earlier. By all means, he was still reluctant.  
  
"Now Boo Fly, if you did something that is in a way irredeemable and wanted to make yourself look better, what would you do?"  
  
"What's this?" Boo Fly asked, with a note hanging between two fingers.  
  
"Gimme that!" Ludo shouted as he jumped to snatch the note from Boo Fly’s hands.

  
Your mind is a raft left to drift against the tides. Doesn't it need something to steer?

  
"Huh." Ludo reflected  
  
"Can I see?" Boo Fly asked looking over Ludo's shoulder  
  
"...Whoever wrote this basically called you dumb."  
  
"I can read." Ludo pushed.  
  
"There's also something here..." Boo Fly pointed at the smaller yet underlined text underneath;

  
_It never ends._

  
            Toffee is rather cryptic but this was just weird, even for being particularly hostile about the status quo. What made him think it was a good time to spout metaphors or for that matter, equivocal statements? What did he want?  
  
"Alright, new question; What would you do if you did something bad but the other person is beating around the bush on what they--"  
  
"Don't tell me! Do they see us on a daily basis? Is it someone that I have been following all day? Oh, you won't believe this but it's about something that's been hammered through my head!" Boo Fly interrupted sarcastically.  
  
"Quit sassing me! You're lucky that you're under this roof right now." Ludo snapped, deeply glaring at Boo Fly to remind him.  
  
"You could have said it was Toffee. All I really have is apologizing, sorry." Boo Fly shrugged  
  
"Come up with something better. He can call me names, he can give me the cold shoulder, whatever. If anyone needs to say sorry it's him." Ludo groaned  
  
"I can talk if that might help." Boo Fly offered upfront. Afterall, he spoke with Toffee thoroughly within the span of the day and knew enough from Toffee's side to get a gist of things here.  
  
"What did he specifically tell you?" Ludo sneered.  
  
"He really hates the idea that's for sure."  
  
"Tell me something I don't know, moron." Ludo stepped towards Boo Fly with irritation.  
  
"He is disappointed."  
  
            Ludo broke away from his rancorous expression in confusion. He couldn't bring himself to form words or define his reaction. He was just a blank slate. While there was one simple way to take that known fact, it was awfully vague and unexpected which made it piquing to him. Not the typical disappointment where Toffee felt second-hand embarrassment for Ludo’s nonsense, it was something relatively new and entirely different.  
  
"How so?" Ludo asked  
  
"He didn't want to have a business partnership that could be ruined, basic stuff really." Boo Fly added.  
  
"This is getting me nowhere but you tried. I may as well make these decisions on my own." Ludo raised his tone slightly and gestured towards the door.  
  
"If you're going to, there's something else you should know!" Boo Fly insisted.  
  
" _What?!_ " asked Ludo, losing more patience. He had no time to repeat obvious factors to both himself and everyone else.  
  
"He wants to talk to you about everything tomorrow, but I'm sure you’ll do fine. Good luck!" Boo Fly said, fluttering out of the room.  
  
            This was just great. His companion that was more or less of a lover was upset and repulsed, his monsters were stressed as a result, and he was handed a time bomb that he had to deactivate without pliers. What could've possibly been worse?  
  
            All he could do was stick to what Boo Fly recommended or avoid confrontation altogether, making himself stuck a fight or flight situation. Avoiding it however could only go on for so long until he ends up being cornered, along with the nagging anxiety following him everywhere. In which case, and Ludo ought to use whatever he had. What did he have? Room for thought.

While not utilized (if lucky) regularly, he held a plethora of ways to get out of a situation--as the next best thing. He had an underlying talent of using it in the span of the moment, he could certainly use it to reverse his mistakes.  
  
            Ludo passively took out a key, opening a specifically locked drawer in his desk. He took out a box that held all of Toffee's reminder notes. While skimming the first one he took out read;

  
_The key to success is abandoning your misery, your world rightfully unfolds_

  
Since taking over the castle his world became his oyster so the quote made perfect sense to him. He took out three other ones that felt relevant and looked at each one carefully.

  
_You could underestimate yourself and prove them right or have them do it for you and prove them wrong._  
  
~  
  
_The ghost is the heart. It will always lurk and daunt, but most are used to it. It enables of all of their fears, but they're okay with it._

  
and lastly;

_Love is always the answer._

  
This card was it’s essentially a copy of the fortune cookie of the same quote made supposedly for memory sake, the infamous quote that marked the beginning. The beginning of the alliance, the beginning of prosperity, the beginning of a downfall. He was wondering where the cards arranged in a line in front of him will lead. These cards had a story he was yet to hear or in this case, live.  
  
These were his foundations.  
  
            Two small rocks were thrown at the window, making Ludo more apprehensive. He looked out the window to see nothing in plain sight, awfully high up in the castle it was baffling not to see the sender. He slowly turned from the sill only to hear those banging noises again but this time he saw someone cloaked out the window.

“If this person wants my family they’re not here, they’ll leave soon.” Ludo said to himself, only to be matched with spears making their way over the brick walls outside. Ludo sprinted downstairs and jumped over many steps to grab his coat off a rack.  
  
"Hey Ludo." said Bearicorn.  
  
"Get everyone out here, we’re under attack!” Ludo said while rushing to get lanterns for everybody.

“Right now? Beard-Deer had a bad aim while we were playing darts again.”  
  
"There's a first aid kit in one of the cabinets, use it." Ludo rolled his eyes as he was getting the matches.  
  
"You know I can do that for you--"  
  
"Sorry, I don't trust anyone here with fire."  said Ludo while lighting a match, “Get everyone out while we still have time.” he yelled.

            This isn’t remotely the first time this had happened, it was regular given he and his family are royalty. However, it’s the first time during the time period in which Ludo evacuated his family. Since then, there would be people who would come every now and then that were easy to chase off but he hadn’t seen anything on such a mass scale that he had to fend off himself.  
  
\--

            Ludo and the monsters assembled, they barged out the door with confidence and bravery. Much like their regular ambushes but with twice as much endurance and sacrifice. The pressure was on their shoulders. When they went past the gate there was nothing there. Everyone had a blank expression and lessened their grip on their weapons.

“That was… something.” said Ludo.

“Do you think they were Septarians?” The Giraffe monster asked

“Nah, ‘cause of the Avarius and Septarsis treaty.” Bearicorn informed

“People might not agree with it though.” Beard-Deer added.

“Septa..wha? Whoever that was, be on guard in case it happens again.” Ludo concluded

“Yeah, then we can take a road trip to the Mewnian Therapy Office.” Boo Fly commented “You’re losing it, Ludo.” he trivialized.  

“What about these additional spears in our yard, they’re from what happened _just now_.” Ludo argued with a high pitched voice to stand up for himself.

“I can believe it just relax for once this week, okay? It’s going to be fine, if anything happens we can take care of it.” Boo Fly said as he and all the other monsters were heading inside.  
  
            “Why would they even try at this point? They don’t have much of a kingdom anymore and a lot of them seem to be okay with the treaty now anyway.” Boo Fly asked the other monsters distantly. The kind of conversation people will typically have when they feel on top of the world or fail to see the complexity of historical events.

\--

           Ludo was up in his room on his bed, trying to fall asleep but couldn’t and had been trying for the past 45 minutes. He kept tossing around but then he took one deep breath through his nose and out his mouth, he did that consistently until he heard his compact ringtone go off. Who could possibly be calling or messaging him at this hour? He reached lazily for the nightstand, held his compact and opened the screen. It didn’t show a caller ID or number, thought to be some kind of error.  
  
>Hey, we haven’t talked for a while and it’d be nice to catch up. Can we talk now? I’m at the house.

            It was weird that the message wasn’t from someone from his contacts. Albeit, there were admittedly a lot of people he didn’t add on it or he deleted some of the ones he had, which were his family members. He assumed it was one of his siblings because a select amount tried to stay close to him. Though recent events made it fishy if not creepy.

Ludo didn’t want to be constantly reminded of them though, so he urged himself out of bed, stumbled his way back downstairs, grabbed a coat and lit a lantern.

            On his way past the castle gate, he grabbed one of the spears off the ground. It wasn’t too late yet to cease the task now and return to shunning his family once more. He was aware most of his family want nothing to do with him, thankfully his parents are probably asleep this time of night. Out of all of the Avarius family he considered his parents to be the worst.

Ludo was alert the second he saw the same cloaked man run past some of the trees in the forest. His heart stopped and started fidgeting like he just consumed a heap of caffeine.

            He fretted going inside The Forest of Certain Death. It was what carried everything he was afraid of. From creatures that can eat him alive, to his overbearing, putrid family he'd suppress 'til the end. He took a deep cold breath anyway and seized the woods. He ran headstrong as things were progressively frightening until he found himself in the deeper part of the woods, where it was nearly pitch black and growls can be heard closely.

His lantern flame suddenly blew out, he couldn't see much of anything. He started trembling and managed to sweat in the brisk weather. He refused to move, he refused to weep, his skin was crawling.  
  
"You're better than them, you're better than them, you can get out of here." he repeated in his head while making baby steps. Tears were pouring out despite holding them back. He was ready to burst.  
  
"COME OUT WHOEVER YOU ARE!!" Ludo shouted.  
  
He then heard a growl in the distance, also steps nearing towards where he was. A bunch of cloaked people jumped out with spears which they swiftly pointed at the tiny kappa. Ludo was partially if not fully convinced he was going to die.

            The leader of the resistance group took off their hood. She was a lizard with a broad face and fierce yet unnerved eyes, the kind that would personify a tragedy. She was as tall as a royal figure like Queen Moon or worse still his own mother.

“I just want to say thank you for turning yourself in, Prince Avarius.” she said solemnly

Ludo was suddenly lifted off the ground. He was screaming from how fast he was lifting off, only to look up and see who was carrying him-- just fortunate enough to escape what looked like an assassination attempt.

"Dennis?" inquired Ludo. He was carrying Ludo by the robe with his beak.  
  
"Hey, brother." Dennis greeted through his teeth. Spears were flying everywhere until they flew past yonder. He was one of the more talented flyers of the family, other than Lord and Lady Avarius of course.

“I’m taking you to the place.” Dennis stated

“The place?”  
  
"When mom and dad fought we snuck out to the hills by the Mewnian River and hung out until things got better, don’t you remember?"  
  
"Oh right, _the place_ . You were the person who sent me the message right?"  
  
“What? Are you crazy? Hold on, we’re stopping here my mouth hurts.” Dennis panted as he was going to land. “Everyone at our house was stuck inside for the past five hours ‘cause of these people.” Dennis said vehemently. “Unless it was Yudo, he really wants the castle back and probably knew how you forgot most of our contacts.”  
  
“ _Maybe._ ” Ludo said sarcastically, making his distaste and the lack of appreciation from Dennis known.  
  
“...Okay, c’mon.” Dennis insisted and Ludo climbed onto his back.  
  
\--  
  
            "Everything is so difficult all the time, but now it's even harder.” Ludo whined as he and Dennis were sitting in front of the tranquil water of the Mewnian River. The water was a pure blue that complemented the the glowing moons in the sky. Anyone who went here could hear the soothing chirps of crickets creating quiet melodies. The place was therapeutic in every way. No wonder why they came here often. It was a getaway from the everyday Mewnian stress, better yet not many people actually knew of this place.

“I’m sure Mom and Dad will have that taken care of soon.” Dennis said trying to make Ludo feel better.

“It’s more than just that. You see, I have this friend who I’m fond of and has become like my best friend. Things got weird… so he doesn’t talk to me now. I don't know what to do." Ludo rambled  
  
"You can open up about the whole thing you know." Dennis stated  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You came out to me remember? We're not around Mom or Dad so you don’t have to hide it. Is everything between you and your friend... like that?" Dennis inquired.  
  
"Yeeeaah. He doesn't feel the same though and I have to do something to make it like it never happened." Ludo hesitantly answered, face buried in his knees.  
  
"You both need to accept that it happened." Dennis suggested. "The more you act like it didn't, the more weird it's going to be if it ever happens again. Does he like boys?"  
  
"How am I supposed to know? I kissed him and since then he--"  
  
"Wait, you kissed him? Then it's going to be really awkward if you find out he doesn't." Dennis said, disappointed. Ludo took the blame anyway just so Dennis can acknowledge he is in need of help in this situation.  
  
            "Do you think apologizing would be a good way to deal with it? My other friend told me it was but I don't think it works that way."  
  
"Well you can try, you do struggle with it though."  
  
"What does that supposed to mean?"  Ludo asked defensively, "You're not mad at the fact I locked everyone out are you!?" he continued, feeling some sort of betrayal.  
  
"Not entirely."  
  
"What's there to apologize for? Dad never cared about me, some days he probably wished I was dead. Mom is wishy-washy and probably doesn't care either. Most of our brothers and sisters just roll with it like it’s nothing, ignore me, then make their issues my fault!” his voice grew louder, “The scars on my arms and legs still haunt me after what they kept doing. Do you think I want to apologize to the people who made them!?" Ludo replied angrily with such a short fuse his eyes started to water.  
  
"No, but I was hoping you would apologize to me. I know you didn't want to do this."  
  
"Why'd you decide to stay with them then!?"  
  
"All the younger ones seem to depend on me and honestly, I think you made a good choice. I know the castle may have been extreme but if I had to be honest mom and dad kind of had it coming." Dennis broke to him, trying to be gentle doing so.  
  
"You don't think I'm being ridiculous?" Ludo asked, a little surprised and emotionally touched.  
  
"What's ridiculous about protecting yourself?"  
  
            Ludo was the family runt so most of the other family members belittled him and preferred to act like he didn't exist. The literal infants that were born after Ludo were deemed better than him. If he was talked to it was usually out of obligation. He was forced to take care of himself and even then he doesn't know the ropes. He was neglected and he was tired of people hiding things from him or being harsh to him all the time. One of the only people that ever understood, was Dennis.  
  
           Dennis had a kind, uplifting heart, he wanted to see the best of things no matter how bad things were at home. He would take care of things when his parents weren't there to. He would try to cheer up his siblings whenever he had the chance. He wanted them to be happy. Happiness was an alienated concept in their household. They had a family name just like the Butterflies they had to live up to, and it mattered more than anything. They were a family of princes and princesses and even then they were broken. Even if you were a form of royalty, you still had to face the dictating nature of the king and queen.  
  
            "If he doesn't accept the apology, what will I do then? It sounds like much, but there's no one I've felt closer towards." Ludo asked while being slightly nervous.  
  
"You're trying at least. It's up to him and you're doing your best. One question I need to ask though; Is he really everything you could ever want, like you can imagine being around him forever… or is it just what you feel right now?"  
  
Ludo thought the question over, he didn't confuse the two but did put his feelings over logic most of the time to the point where it became synonymous. He hated facing his own problems as it is.  
  
            The real question was though; Is it love? It felt like love, it was breathtaking like love, it changed him like love… but didn't surface like love. It was an imitation that he got too invested in, unrequited love. All of the plastic aspects are created from samples of the real thing and that's what made it everything indistinguishable. But it's a love, something he chose to keep coming back to and admire.

  
“I don’t know, what I do know is that whatever happens, I just hope we’ll be satisfied with whatever we have with each other. I trust him and everything, but--”

“But what?” a deep voice emerged. _Speak of the devil._ Toffee was sitting on the next hill over overhearing the conversation, Ludo and Dennis just now noticed.

“What are you doing here?” Ludo’s voice echoed. He gestured Dennis to leave but didn’t immediately pick up on it until he made hand gestures to do so.

“It’s a nice view, helps me think.” Toffee flat out stated. He had been laying on top of a blanket covering the frosted grass, facing towards the sky. He then sat up and made eye contact at Dennis, then shifted his eyes to Ludo.

“So who is this?” Toffee asked.  
  
            Ludo sighed from how frustrating and awkward the entire meetup was, but retreated. Additionally, he thought it would be nice for Toffee to at least know Dennis if he had to choose anyone from the Avarius family, due to his good will.

“Dennis, this is my friend Toffee. Toffee, this is my brother Dennis.” Ludo introduced.

“Nice to meet you! I have to go do something first so uh-- I’ll be back later.” Dennis greeted politely while trying to get out of the tension.

            Ludo and Toffee were staring at each other, with a bit of contempt but also with insecurity as to how to approach each other after their last conversation back at the castle. Ludo then made his way to Toffee’s hill, Toffee’s eyes widened from witnessing that one action and from an odd sense of discomfort.

“Now that you’re right here, we need to talk.” Ludo demanded as he was walking toward him.

“Boo Fly should have told you that I would tomorrow.” Toffee resisted irritatedly.  
  
Ludo stopped to look at his watch and said as it stroke midnight, “What do you know, it’s tomorrow.”

“ _Well played._ ” Toffee said unenthusiastically, “Alright, what are going to talk about in regards to our little issue.” Toffee sighed as Ludo finally made it across.

“If this means anything, I wanted to say I’m sorry for putting yourself through this and I regret that I kept it going.” Ludo apologized, a little forced but he did manage to pull it off.

“...I can give you props for at least saying it.” Toffee replied. “But are you mindful of the fact I don’t favor how you feel?” he continued.  
  
“Why, are you like… _mad_ at me for it.” Ludo turned away and crossed his arms.  
  
“No.” Toffee answered, in a way that tried to state that he wasn’t annoyed and instead deeply concerned. Ludo raised a brow and turned back to him. The behaviour didn’t seem unlike Toffee according to Ludo but it was among the least of his expectations given his cold and introverted nature, same would apply to anyone else who talked to him.

“Why not? This is one of the worst things I’ve done and everything is weird now. Not to mention _you_ seemed _mad_ when you left the card at the castle… or should I say _disappointed_.” Ludo resisted.

“ _Which one?”_ Toffee inquired going back to being annoyed and tired of the same drama that was unnecessary to put up with in the first place but here he was.

“The one that talked about a raft, which… makes no sense there are no rafts here.” said Ludo being clueless.

“It was _metaphorical_ , don’t you know what that is?” Toffee clarified.

“Well--yeah. Just I don’t know coming from you half the time. I thought maybe it wasn’t since there is a river--anyway. I’m so frustrated because you keep making this a game.” Ludo began rambling once more.

“Okay.” Toffee replied with monotone

“You told me that you hated me being in love with you in front of everybody, but then seemed okay with it the next minute for no discernable reason only to do that again.”

“I was testing you.”

“Well then, tell me _why_ didn’t you just face me and say ‘hey, you did and said crazy things that need to be discussed’ and leave it at that, huh?” Ludo interrogated.  

“...I… I wasn’t trying to avoid it per se. I just didn’t know how to go about it. It wasn’t really--” Toffee hesitantly said, not exactly lying but not exactly telling the truth either.

“You want to make this less weird? Accept that the kiss happened and try to have us move past it. That’s what Dennis told me and he is intelligible himself.” Ludo interrupted.

            “I will admit my own fault now that you found the decency to say _yours.”_ Toffee said firmly to get that point across, he took a deep cleansing breath through his snout to essentially reset the path of the conversation.

“At this point I’m not even mad or disappointed.” Toffee began, “Look at it this way, many people are how you would say… weird. There are a lot of things they can’t help but keep thinking about because of how much those things are a part of them. In your case, it’s me and well, the wand. You act on both of those things because it’s your way of expressing the deeper part of your mind and trying to find comfort in it, you want relevance.” he continued, “That doesn’t excuse what you did, but I know all too well how all of that built-up idealization feels. You’re restless... just like me.” he turned to the sky as he said the finishing statements. When composing that speech on the spot, Toffee immediately thought of Moon and the Massacre. He clenched his fist with the missing finger as he impulsively did every time.

            Ludo sat down next to Toffee on the blanket, looking at the sky with him. “I wouldn’t call it _idealization_ … anything can happen, right? I nearly died twice on the way here... I saw my brother for my first time in months because of it.”

“Yes, but there’s the other side of the coin. Not everything is what it seems… which is why I wanted to help you. _You_ have a chance with the wand, making sure chances happen is my job.” Toffee assured, half-lying while doing so. Ludo did feel supported but saddened due to the other chance not happening. That was when he realized he simply… wasn’t over it. He tried to create closure like one would.

            “If things aren’t what they seem sometimes... then what do you do about wasted chances? Or ones that were never actually there like you thought?” Ludo asked Toffee. It was something even he couldn’t answer. Toffee is emotionally durable but that managed to struck a chord in him, it was one of the few things that did. That’s how much it impacted him.

“...I try to move onto substitutions that may not be the  _best_ but will come to good terms with the original goal.” said Toffee, a little unsure this time.  
  
“It’s inevitable, not just a word of advice. Take that if you will.” Toffee continued with composition, clearly referring to the original topic of the conversation, “I know that it is a blur just knowing there are wasted chances or regrets from dedicating yourself to a perceived idea. Never fails to change someone.” Toffee turned his head towards Ludo, who had a downhearted expression and was staring at the ground at that moment. Before Toffee was able to finish, Ludo slowly leaned onto Toffee’s forearm and held onto it.  
  
            “...We’ll take on the world someday, don’t worry.” Ludo reassured as they were both looking into the night sky again. Toffee stiffened, that shed of confidence from Ludo felt fake knowing his intentions, but those intentions weren’t that sturdy. He wasn’t as sure anymore. One way or another, they both had curses against the corrupt and merciless kingdom of Mewni. They subconsciously find comfort in that with each other, enough to possibly change the game. But what’s that to dictate?  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been a blast to write, and it's a little hard to believe it's almost over (mostly cause I was so busy/distracted from it I didn't think I'd ever finish ofc). I thought it would be nice to add Dennis in here because he is a pure cinnamon roll tbh who can't love Dennis. I also appreciated the nice comments I got on this fanfic!! (I suck at replies rip). 
> 
> Onward to the finale~


	8. Perfection is Hollow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Tell me, did I have any part to play in this?"  
> "No."  
> \--  
> "You're too proud to say, that you made a mistake. You're a coward 'til the end. I don't want to admit that we're not gonna fit. No, I'm not the type that you like. Why don't we just pretend? Lies, don't wanna know, don't wanna know." - "Lies", MATD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeyyy it's done for real :0. I technically did 'finish' this quite a while ago but this chapter was a draft I was very overconfident in (mainly because of how much I created in a shorter process than usual). It turned out it had many holes and no real clear direction, so after I took time to do more (many) revisions, I can guarantee it's much better this time.  
> TL;DR: This is a finished product, sorry for the long ass WIP. 
> 
> Also to clear things up about the resistance group: They're a separate entity from the Septarian army. So no, Toffee isn't directly affiliated with them. 
> 
> Thank you all so much and I hope you enjoy ;)

**Trigger Warning: Themes of Child Abuse, Blood, Mentions of Murder, (as canon-typical as possible, but I know many people are still uncomfortable) and SEASON 3 SPOILERS.**IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED BATTLE FOR MEWNI CLICK OFF OF THIS****

*******

         Nothing had been more painful in an already unjust world. A world in which a beast sinks its teeth into its prey as a pastime. A world in which the lack of mercy was of heroic value. A world in which love and despair weren't mutually exclusive. Life as it stood was heaving. Ludo leaned against the brick wall of the castle gate.  
  
         He had nothing to say or do other than leave. Shelter was found under a tree within distance. His mind wandered and the highpoint was a spear lodged in the tree. Ludo flimsily crawled to the farthest point of one of the branches and aimed the spear closely over the gate. The began to sink, making Ludo frantically throw the spear across. Crawling back to center and hiding from sight, he watched it shatter a window. Petrified but had little regret doing it.

  
\--

         “Who did this?” Toffee confronted the Monster Army with a spear wedged in his left shoulder. The monsters shifted eyes vigorously around the room.

         “For your sake, not mine.” He clarified, removing the spear and allowing the flesh to form. The wound mended though the gaping hole in his sleeve was no less perceptible.

“Think we can guess, _and boy is this desperate._ ” said Boo Fly irreverently. The other monsters paused then broke into laughter. “This is my castle and my monsters. I didn’t lock out my family or anything.” Boo Fly mocked, laughter continuing to rise.

“I’m strong and berating but quick watch me pose as helpless in 2 seconds flat!”

“We get it.” Toffee cut in which killed the choir, “I’m sure none of you want any red hands caught in the act. This isn't technically our property.”

“You’re building a crystal trap in the middle of the dining room.” Beard Deer pointed out.

          “That’s the pièce de résistance... and it won’t be so eloquent without any guests to see for themselves.” Toffee unveiled while pacing towards the forming cage. “If you don’t mind… I’m arranging a little gathering.” Toffee smirked, self-assured and zealous. Taste of uprising and sight of gold on the surface, his agenda started to crack the mantle. What mattered was how simplistic it was to control everyone regardless of personality, compulsion, or motivation. He just needed extra threads to bring it all together.

           To make his circumstances more so favorable it wasn’t brutal or costly. He got away with murder. At worst he’s receiving a share of the universe alone, in the dark, not to be seen. He didn’t quite separate from Ludo yet. Associatively, maybe, but he was going to be forced to shape his life around him for a while. He was going to transform into magic.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if he returns to our doorstep placing sympathy on us despite stabbing you in the back just now.” Boo Fly rambled.

         “And the other times before I’m sure?” Toffee asked, examining the crystals placed. They’re not grand or secure like Rhombulus’s crystals but were durable enough to carry out his ploy.

“...Kinda? He’s a jerk either way and I’m glad he’s gone. Sure, he’s had it rough but it’s not like we had it any better.” Boo Fly narrowed.  
  
         “Certainly.” Toffee replied while adjusting one of the crystals which increased the growth of the box. Boo Fly drifted aimlessly and eventually found himself trapped as the walls closed space. He persistently pushed against the glass to free himself. Toffee rolled his eyes and took out his miniature remote which had the purpose of opening the door.

         “Well, at least it works!” Boo Fly smiled upon being freed. Toffee left him a disapproving stare then walked away. Boo Fly wasn’t dim albeit it was appropriately unsatisfactory considering he approached a destructive force. One of status and dignity though broadly forgotten.

\--

          Ludo browsed his compact to find Buff Frog’s number. Taking the chance to confide in someone in the same discontent as well as willing collaborate against Toffee. Two messages were sent two hours separate from each other;

>Hey Buff Frog, if you haven’t heard I got kicked out too. I doubted you I’m sorry.

>Can you help me please?

         Sitting around shrubs and glued to the screen, Ludo was debating whether he should just give up and return to the premises on alone or call him. He didn’t want to know the truth of whether or not he lost Buff Frog too. Which was going to cause things to be more poignant? Intervention or more false hope? He pressed a button to call. The dial tone was making a game in which one moves a piece from the tower of bricks, if he was fortunate they won’t collapse.

He picked up.

“Buff Frog!” Ludo squealed in relief. “I’m soooo so sorry that I didn’t pay attention to you and I swear you can throw me into the abyss or something for being so foolish. I’m thinking while we have the chance, we should make Toffee taste his own medicine!”

         There was a prolonged silence, Ludo’s stomach was in knots. It submerged the second Buff Frog hung up. He began sobbing and tears poured once more like harsh rain. He thought his insides were going to push outward from feeling so tense. The world was fading and his eyes were heavy until there was nothing left in sight other than pitch black.

\--

         A blinding light burst in, upon disintegration the sky was a darker but all the same burnt lavender, Lightning pierced through thick clouds and a fierce wind was blowing. Ludo challenged it with strides prompting for a secure area. Gusts overpowered, lifting him farther from the castle’s diminishing sight. When he saw his hands the right hand had a white rose taped to the palm.

         After flailing for ground, said hand held onto another hand, keeping him flowing in one place. He was caught by no other than the reptilian devil himself, he held onto a tree and was blankly staring at Ludo. The coarse wind fell and all gently descended to the ground. The rose’s stem grew and wrapped itself around Ludo and Toffee’s held hands and wrists. The prickles pierced through their skin, however only Ludo felt it as he was whispering screams of agony.

        “Care for help?” Toffee sarcastically asked, grinning at the dismissal. Ludo struggled to break free, it was an excruciating effort.

        “You may as well propose while you’re at it since you’re so attached to me even now... with plans of forever.” Toffee continued. More white roses blossomed within the extended stem, Blooming as if it were springtime in this bleak atmosphere.

“Stop saying that! I know what you’re doing!” Ludo grunted as the grasp felt tighter.

        “Yes, _but do you know what you’re doing?_ ” Toffee queried, “You’ve given yourself to this. By default I’m always going to be here, on your mind. But right now? You’re in denial that nothing has ever been perfect between you and I. I’m just doing my own thing, always have been. The fact you’re holding my hand now is on you.”

“This is on me… in my… mind?” Ludo processed. “So… is this not real?”

        “More or less, but definitely more real.” Toffee replied reassuringly. “Along with your memories much of this is created by you but not necessarily controlled by you.” Toffee continued smugly. Dandelion petals were softly swirling from the sky, carried by a soft breeze.  
  
“You like them don’t you? That’s why they’re here.” he concluded.

        “Well, I don’t want you here so I wish I had the wand to blast you away!” Ludo yelled in frustration amongst pulling away. The plant cut free on command. Ludo stumbled backward, therefore, it didn’t quite work.

“Your mind isn’t strong enough to do that, what you're saying isn't true anyhow.” Toffee chuckled.

“...Then what is?” Ludo questioned, sluggishly standing up.

         “That’s for both of us to find out.” The sleek lizard dictated, “I’m going to be nice by giving you a headstart.” the moment the statement dropped a gust of wind hurled Ludo away. It dragged him afar, far and swift enough to be as if he strolled through all of Mewnian civilization within seconds.  
  
The wind halted once it reached its destination; an isolated valley; A ditch _within_ an isolated valley. Ludo aggressively stood up and clawed onto the soil wall. Sadly, it was steep and far too fragile to effectively climb. The friction caused him to slide downward against the wall.

        “...Okay...well... I’m alone now if that’s what you think I need! Don’t need to be reminded but thanks!” Ludo shouted indirectly. “If I just knew how to get out of here…” he pondered. If this was his mind at work, he didn’t have to be there. But it wasn’t entirely. Although that didn’t mean he couldn’t create something and use that to his advantage. He is the prominent power no matter how mindless he can be at times.

         “Mind, give me something to… get me out of here.” He flung his arms forward alike to a magician summoning things. Absent of imitation of Star’s casts. Not quite the wand wielder to be reckoned with. A shovel emerged out of thin air. An achievement at its finest, but whose calculating?

          _“What?”_   Ludo’s voice cracked. This was absurd even for his standards. He formulated logic around this however. “Ooohhh okay. My mind knows what to do. I can just dig, and dig until there's no more… digging.” he began implementing the shovel into the soft soil.

          It became tiresome but that didn’t stop him. Tiny and tangible mountains surrounded the ditch’s edges, If only it were something to brag about. An hour into digging and he found a rock. A rock lodged into fairly solid surface. He took his shovel and jammed it underneath the rock in the hopes of it moving.

          “Stupid rock!” he groaned while his frail little arms tried lifting. He removed it and pounded the blade on top of it. It slightly budged, unfortunately not enough to continue. At that point he tossed the shovel aside and pushed it down with his own force. The rock fell with him.

          Ludo felt sore in his stomach but forgot about that when he found himself in another world. A world within his own. He landed in an underground cave. There were color-changing glows projected by the ceiling, like fiber lights. Crystals were attached to the walls and the ground. He wandered around the strange ambiance of the place. Around the bend revealed a staircase. He tiptoed into a dark room. A luminous cool-hued light flashed, projecting Lady Avarius.

         “Hello dear!” she called out. “I came to talk to you because from what I’m told you've been unstable from all our recent events. We’re letting you know that we really love you and there’s nothing here you ever need to worry about. What we're doing is for the best--” the hologram of her glitched and the voice ranged from a moderate to shrieky voice.

         “...Mom?” Ludo hesitantly asked, spine shivering from both the sound and the troublesome memory. He wasn’t thinking much of her nor anyone else in his family. Though it's definitely not like they weren't a problem. He turned behind to find a stuffed bunny. The bunny was named Lottie and he hadn’t seen her since he was a very young child. He held it tightly in his arms which made the hologram functional again.

         “Oh and these? These bruises on my arms were all from me being careless. Your father means well and he will never do anything to hurt us. Our family can get... melodramatic. It's not easy being in charge by yourself, things get out of hand and you have to take the blame for it." Lady Avarius lamented, "But always remember you can turn to me for anything you need help with, okay?” she nervously assured. 

         “No It’s not and I hate how you lied to me!” Ludo snapped, the image of his mother disappeared. He uneasily sneaked past the scene to find warmer tints of light. Running into his dad, Lord Brudo, made everything feel like a harsh winter.

“What is it?” Lord Brudo irritatedly asked. “Can’t you just man up and figure it out yourself?”

         Ludo was confused until he looked at his bunny and saw that one of its ears had a tear. It was strange. Though this was yet another memory, where this exactly happened.

        “Can’t believe that I even have to do this.” Brudo muttered. He took out a needle and some thread to cleave the ear into one piece. Then he forcefully handed the plush back to Ludo, reflecting the outlook of his son perfectly. 

        “You know son, life's hard out there and there’s no way you can last in it if you just mope and have everyone do things for you. Did you think we had everything handed down to us? No. No one has.” he raised his voice, “Being a lord means you risk your life and hope to survive, the old Queen had to learn the hard way. I don’t know why you think that you’ll get far in life as yourself. Either learn to deal with it like everyone else or don’t bother. If I were you I wouldn’t see the point in trying. You’re a failure as it is and--” just as he was going to push Ludo out of the way, he resisted by grabbing onto his knuckles and squeezing them with what he could hold against him.

        “Do you hear yourself talk? I’m your _ **son.**_ You act like you just deal with me and then let me go like a stranger. You don’t want to support me. Least you could have done is teach me things so I don’t have to ask you but you didn’t want to do that either. _**Can’t you admit that you never wanted anything to do with me!? That you think I’m just pathetic!? It sure would have made this less bad!**_ ” the yelling essentially amounted cries.  
  
A cave wall was obliterated by the Septarian rebels he encountered. One of the lizards pinned him down.

        "If you thought the General would have done you injustice you have no idea. This axe is closer than you think." the lizard threatened. Ludo's siblings gathered around to witness the quarrel, encasing them for exhibition.

        "What does that mean?" Ludo quivered. He soon lost patience for an answer so he requested from his siblings, "There's only so many of you, can anyone help me?" the crowd lost interest and left.  
  
"Using sappiness so we can let you go? That's cute." The lizard forced as the axe was hardly an inch away from the neck.  
  
         As the slaughter was prepared, Ludo rose with fury and grasped the handle strenuously, pushing it away from himself. The lizard lifted the axe and shook it about to force Ludo to release. Another Lizard charged with a sword, Ludo had already let go. The severed arm flew across the cave. Ludo grabbed Lottie and dashed away. He was soon trampled by the leader herself who cornered him with a rapier.  
  
"I could do whatever you want, _anything_! Just don't do this to me!" Ludo panted. 

"If it were that easy... I wouldn't be doing this to you. " She countered.  
  
        As adrenaline rushed, the arm propelled towards Ludo, it willingly handed him the axe. He repelled rapier's jab and scattered to escape. He sprinted through the open, making harsh turns from weaponry left and right. He shortly realized that he was nearing the edge of a cliff. Full of intense fear, he froze. A single move costed his life. With a rapier soaring in his direction, he fiercely threw the axe to the ceiling to unleash a heap of crystals in defense, but it was too late. His shoulder was oozing blood. His balance was non-existent. He languidly fell off the cliff, velocity coordinating a harsh fall.  
       
\--

        Ludo reached rock bottom, the boulders supported him. He got through them wobbly. The finish line was the floor, which his body collapsed on. Although somewhat satisfied that he at least participated in a fight by himself. In spite of his torn tissues, he scouted further (Albeit less than a mile). He reached the dead end. A room with nothing but an exposure to light from the ceiling. He decided to turn around but there was no way up. A first aid kit appeared beside him. He gently removed the embedded rapier and wrapped gauze around the wound.

“Well Lottie, we’re more buried than the dead. What now?” Ludo said to his bunny, holding it out in front of him keeping a one-sided conversation. All of the stitchings of the plush slowly fell apart in his hands. Only pieces of cotton were left. The only conversator left was his own thoughts.

“Okay, so I can’t keep a relationship, be a good leader, impress my family, be a good friend, or live my life. **_Is there anything else you want to prove!?_** _”_ Ludo indirectly shouted at the silence. He was whimpering and shaking profusely. 

       Ludo sat and hugged his knees silently, unable to cope with anything at all anymore. In a manifestation of his individuality he was dead inside. He reserved a place in the line of tragedies. The ongoing struggle of survival of the fittest in a condensed view, documented for people ponder to educate themselves. He was at the bottom of the food chain and everyone was the oppressor. The unsettling truth of forsaken and conditional love shaping his future. Ignored, erratic, dead.   
  
He heard something crash into the room, prompting him to look up. He was looking at Star.

“You okay, Ludo?” she frowned, she had a sorry look on her face. But she was his sworn enemy as he was hers. Why would she want to help him?

“No.” Ludo mumbled. “But I don’t want your help.”

“I just want to do you a favor.”

“Doesn’t everyone?” Ludo replied sarcastically, turning away from her.

        While he didn’t hate Star, he never saw her as a person he can be buddy-buddy with which was like hating her. He held petty grudges and antagonized her regularly because of her existence bugging him. Though, she wasn't an actual problem matter how much his self-esteem dropped whenever he saw her.

        “Ludo, I may not be your favorite person but I don’t think you should just sit here.” Star began, “Life isn’t all that dark and terrifying... though some days I wonder, you’ve gone through some hard stuff. But that doesn’t mean that you should give in to what everyone thinks or what they’ve done. You’re your own person too.” she told him.

“I know you’re not really talking to me so give me your wand and just call it a day.” Ludo frankly stated.

“ _Yeah sorry buddy I’m still not giving it to you._ But do you know what you just did?”

“What?”

        “You tried to believe in yourself. You weren’t hiding behind things you depend on to avoid your problems. You’re acknowledging it as I talk to you because you’re generating it. I’m a part of your mind and this world is the rest of it. I’m not so bad of a person and am able to help you… for now, I don’t know if I would after this.” She lectured.

         Ludo thought for a moment, deciding his reaction to his own conscious word. He had nothing else to lose and couldn’t say no to any help at this point so he surrendered.

"Talk to me, I'm here for you." Star comforted.

"Well..." Ludo started, "I'm scared. No matter where I turn someone seems to be after me. My parents, predators, my friends, sometimes you." 

" _Hey, if anything you're always after me_ \-- I mean... look, not everyone is like your parents. Whatever anyone else does to you is also their problem. The best you can do is--"

"Have you ever thought that best you can do is sometimes never enough? I lost my house, I lost my support system, I might die and nobody will come and save me. I thought things were going to be okay for once but--" as Ludo frantically rambled the flooring diverged, exposing lava.   
  
"But it's not over yet!" Star stated, holding onto Ludo to protect him from the lava.

“What are you going to do.” he inquired.

“I’m gonna drop kick you.” Star replied with a straight face.

 _“Wow okay. I thought you were doing me a favor but ok, really feeling the love here.”_ Ludo yelled, being salty.

        “It’s the only way out of here, and I do have a strong kick if I do say so myself.” Star confidently said. She picked up Ludo and placed him approximately 2 feet in front of her, he didn’t question it though was not the happiest about it either. He skyrocketed past the center of his world and past the ditch. He landed in the field nearby.

        He was able to walk away but he was stopped. “Have you missed me?” Toffee called out. Ludo turned, seeing Toffee right behind him.

“No.” Ludo frankly responded.

        “Are you sure?” He asked, giving Ludo a concerned look. Ludo started walking away, Toffee watched him go. A few feet away gradually became many yards away. At that moment he called out, “It didn’t have to be this way you know.” that sentence was enough to pique his interest. He turned his head back to him and walked back, Toffee kept a straight face. A perspective in which can reverse anything and everything, like all other perspectives in the sea of mentality.

        “You’re right, it didn’t have to be this way.” Ludo replied as the rapier appeared out of thin air. He stabbed Toffee in the chest to erase him from his mind, but it did literally nothing. Ludo took it out of his chest and tried again.  
  
“That’s not going to help you.” Toffee informed, the rapier faded at that realization. The wind returned as a breeze.

        "You could have stayed. You could have lived your life with me once more. We could have had it all mutually.” Toffee insisted. “It could have been better. Our dichotomy was what kept us apart and it’s devastating to think of every once in awhile.”

“You know how I feel.”

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” Toffee added.

“Then what’s with you?” Ludo raised a brow.

         “You didn’t think I felt anything at all? What you did admittedly leave a lasting effect on me. It taught me that intimacy is rare and when it’s found it’s always in a strange form. I’m not good at holding up to it.” Toffee stated.

“But what do you suppose you do about it?”

        Toffee kneeled down at Ludo’s level, held up his chin and kept his snout a few inches away. Ludo froze as their eyes locked. They paused for a considerable amount of time like they were statues. The clouds cleared, giving off a bold lavender like sunrise began.

        Ludo broke from Toffee’s invitation with this statement, “You're lying.” Ludo said with a knowledgeable tone.

“Am I? You don't know enough about me.” Toffee replied.  
  
"What I do know is that any remark about loving me was to mess with me, because that's what you said yesterday. Does that still hold up now? I don't know. But you're pretty sad yourself, treating me like an experiment. You'd drop me the second I no longer serve a purpose, emotional or otherwise and you proved it. ** _You can blame me for it, go ahead because it was all my fault. I let you in, I liked you, I trusted you, I kissed you, I loved you, I let you win. Why? Because you saved me from my past. That is, until you took what I had left._** " Ludo wailed with sobs.   
  
" _I'm never leaving._ " Toffee argued.  
  
" _No, but I can_." Ludo fought back and ran for the ditch. The hole was now an entrance to a sea of lava, splashing and flaring about. 

“What are you doing?” Toffee asked

“Waking myself up. I'm not thinking about anything anymore, I can keep running from myself as long as I live.” Ludo concluded, slowly leaning into the pit.

“See you later.” Toffee said. Ludo tossed himself into the fiery sea with no afterthought amongst collision. Ludo was awoken by his compact vibrating, Boo Fly left him a message.

\--  
        Boo Fly and Bearicorn were in what used to be Ludo’s office and they were playing cards. Boo Fly was winning (though he was cheating by periodically looking at Bearicorn’s cards).

Toffee came to the doorway and asked, “Do any of you know if Ludo left his keys?”

“Yeah, they’re on his nightstand.” Bearicorn casually replied.

        Toffee came up in his room and obtained the keys, but dropped them under the stand. He crouched down to get them but oddly enough he also found an envelope that assumably was there for a while. The front said “Toffee”. Out of curiosity he unsealed it. 

\--  
  
“So… you found the letter he wrote for you?” Boo Fly asked

“Mhm.”

“Did you read it?”

“Yep.”

“...What are you going to do with it?” Bearicorn asked.  
  
Toffee took out a lighter from his pocket and activated it to burn the letter to ashes. Bearicorn’s jaw dropped and Boo Fly whooped at it's demise.

\--  
>”Hey Ludo, this is Boo Fly. Not to sound harsh but… (oh this is going to sound harsh uhh) us kicking you out of our own home and siding with Toffee was nothing personal [...].”

Ludo rolled his eyes, tempted to hang up but he wanted to kill time and to know what Boo Fly had to say. 

>“We think he's the best for people like us and while some of us still care about you, you’re a little nuts, maybe things are really getting to you and you need to distance for your own good.”

He was walking through a bridge while listening to the message. Ludo soon arrived at a pond and stood in front of the water as he was listening to the final words.

>”SO YEAH. It’s so sad since I was helping both of you guys out but Toffee is in the right, he cares about us more than you did half the time. No offense but you really su--”

           Ludo dropped his compact in the pond, destructing from its contact with water. Ludo crouched towards the water to see the glow. It was beautiful and it complemented its visitors. It welcomed visitors that could bring light to the future. A family of tadpoles.


End file.
